Has this ever happened to you? You have all your holiday
shopping done. The packages are all wrapped. Your
Christmas cards have all been sent. And, then, it happens.

In the mail you receive a Christmas card from someone who
was not on your list of cards that you sent. Oh, no! Now
what do you do? It's too late. If you do send them a card
they won't get it in time. This is but a small part of
what I call, "the stress of Christmas."

What if you received a card from someone not on your list
and with it they included a gift card? You have not even
sent them a card, let alone a gift. More stress. And what
about receiving a gift from someone that is much more
expensive than the gift you gave them? More stress.

These and other similar holiday related events cause people
a lot of unnecessary stress. Times may be a little tight
for some families and they just cannot afford to buy the
kind of gifts they would like to for their children. In
years past, they may have given gifts to their nieces and
nephews, but not this year. More stress.

Some people go through stress with company holiday parties.
Should you go? If you don't go, will it look bad? What
about a gift for the boss?

A lot of unneeded pressure comes around every December.
Perhaps the biggest reason could be attributed to what we
think a gift is. Maybe we ought to take a step back and
ask ourselves why we give gifts in the first place.

Of course we want someone to be happy with the gift that we
give them; we want them to know that we love them. We want
them to have something nice; after all it is a gift. And,
many times, trying to figure out what kind of gift would
meet that criteria can cause stress as well.

But why do we give a gift? Is it because we know that
someone is going to give us a gift and we need to make sure
that we reciprocate in kind? Is it because we feel that
someone deserves a gift? Is it because we know that
someone is expecting a gift from us? In other words, do we
feel obligated for whatever reason?

I saw part of a movie recently where a single dad didn't
have any money to buy presents, so he simply put the
pictures of the gifts he wanted to give in little boxes and
wrapped them in pretty paper. The thinking was that this
is what he would like to have given, but he didn't have the
money to do so.

I am all in favor of giving gifts, but I always try to
remember what a gift really is. I don't believe that a
gift is something that is earned or deserved. Sorry,
Santa. I don't believe that a gift is given in response to
a gift that is given to you. That eliminates the old "gift
exchange" program.

Biblically, a gift is something that is freely given out of
love without expecting anything back in return. A gift is
something given with no strings attached. The Bible says
that God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten
Son!

God took a big chance on doing that because what if no one
accepted His gift? He was willing to take that chance
because His motive was love. No one forced Him or made Him
to feel obligated to do something. He simply decided that
was what He was going to do.

I believe that most people would probably give more if they
had more. But, you only have what you have and can only
give what you can give. The only other alternative is to
go into debt so that you can give certain things. Doing
that is not a financially sound decision.

And there is one other thing to consider. Many times, a
very inexpensive gift that has a lot of love and heart is
much more appreciated. So many times in my life I have
received gifts that monetarily were very inexpensive. But
the love and heart behind them was something that deeply
touched my heart.

So when it comes to gift giving, it will help eliminate a
lot of stress if you remember that a gift is simply
something that is freely given out of love, expecting
nothing in return. If others have a different idea about
gifts, well then that's their privilege to have a different
point of view. But you should never base your actions on
what other people are going to think about you. Base your
actions on love and you will eliminate the "stress" of the
holidays.

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Michael A. Verdicchio offers a FREE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP to,
"Enriching Your Life Now!" as well as a FREE NEWSLETTER at
http://www.ConfidenceAndJoy.com He also offers a FREE
series of articles on success at
http://www.ReducingStressAtWork.com
Michael is a husband, father, minister, author, and
broadcaster. He has also been the voice on numerous
projects and productions including Mike's Pep Talks!

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