Gifts of Spirit

Hello everyone! I am sure you are all busy making last minute preparations for your holiday celebrations. I spent the morning work on some gifts and while I worked, I got to thinking about the gifts I was given this year. The kinds of gifts I was thinking about were not the type you could put in a box and wrap with a pretty bow, but rather gifts that life bestows on us if we are really lucky.

This year my gifts were those of spirit. I was reminded over and over again how good it feels to give, to know who your real friends are, to know that something you say or do really does make a difference in someone's life, to see someone's growth and celebrate it with them, to share someone's pain and by sharing it, to lighten the burden. 2006 was not particularily kind, but I believe that sometimes the greatest gifts come wrapped in adversity.

I read a quote once that gave me pause. It said "If you didn't get all the things you wanted, be thankful for all the things that you didn't want, that you didn't get." I had never thought about life like that before! I have a game I play with my close friends when something awful befalls one of us called "It Could Be Worse". We sit there and think of all the ways in which whatever has happened could be worse, building it up, making it more and more outrageous so that we end up laughing so hard it hurts. Gallows humour is my secret weapon when it comes to dealing with awful things.

On the flip side, another favourite quote of mine says "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." I think that has allowed me to really embrace all the beautiful magic in my life. Blessings swirl all around me, unseen and unbidden, but make their way to me, just the same. That magic makes my life joyous.

As we close out the old year and welcome in the new, my wish is that each of you opens your heart wide to make room for all the magical gifts that life has waiting for you in 2007. May those of you travelling over the holidays have a safe journey.

Be Blessed!