I’d like to start off this post by stating that you should have a giving heart all year ‘round. Now, I’m not saying that I’m not nice to other people throughout the year, but during
the Christmas/holiday season, the “niceness bug” really takes over me.
People ask me,especially this year, ”....do I have to give you something back?” I’m always astounded when
I hear that. AND SO MANY PEOPLE SAY IT! My answer is always “Of course not, I just like making people smile. I’m not expecting anything in return.”
I wanted to write a post on here about what I (and YOU!) can do to show people you know or even strangers that you care about them. Some of these things take time and effort but some of them are a breeze.
I hope this holiday season, you open your heart to others and spread the holiday cheer!
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1) I make holiday cards every year. I always give them out way too early because I’m so excited about
them. I order them through Vistaprint.com every year because they always have coupon codes and they always turn out great. On the front, for the past couple years, I put pictures of what I did that year and I make sure that
I get it blank on the back side because I write a personalized hand-written note on each and every card. This year I had to up my card count and bought 100 cards. I’m a anxious person in the sense that everything I create,
I want to give out ASAP. I just get too excited. I gave out a lot of my cards before Thanksgiving this year (DON’T JUDGE ME). I love the smile on people’s face when I hand them out. It makes me happy.
2)
Speaking of Christmas cards, last year I put on social media how my younger brother never gets cards for theholidays and he gets kind of sad about it. WOW, did I get a response. My brother recieved an uncountable number of cards (and even some gifts!) from around the world. It just gave me faith in caring humans.
Cards mean a lot.
3) I’m not very good at baking. It’s a known fact. My simple chocolate chip cookies turn out runny or flat. But holiday baking gives me some sort of joy. I bake to give the goodies as gifts to friends or other kind people. This year I stepped out of my comfort zone and made Andes dark chocolate cookies and butter cinnamon
cookies (that taste like snicker-doodles) for the first time. They turned out GREAT! I made some other treats and I can’t wait to give these away (I worked so hard so I hope they enjoy it!)
4) This year, I’m
trying something new. I saw on Twitter that the website Kindly has something going on where you sign up to write a letter to an elderly person to give them some cheer for the holidays. It’s England based and I’m
from the US but I’m going to get some stamps and send the letter. They’re suppose to email you with a name, an address, and some facts about the person. They have yet to email me back (I JUST sent them the confirmation email though, so I need to wait a bit) but I’m so excited!
5) Last Christmas eve,
I went to a friend’s house with some other friends as a little holiday gathering. We didn’t buy gifts for each other, we just drank wine and ate cheese spread. It was fun to catch up with everyone and I recommend getting together with someone during this season to just have a nice time and relax from all the stress that comes with the month of December. This isn’t really a “giving” tip,
but it’s a great tip nonetheless.
6) I usually am either really good at buying gifts or completely useless. Last year, I was pretty useless. It was an off-year for me. Now, I’m not saying buying gifts
and spending lots of money is the way to go (please see above with other tips) but I don’t know, giving gifts makes me happy, I guess. I never expect anything back and it’s always a surprise when people do reciprocate.
My new coworker was talking about how her name is unique and she never could find anything with her name on it and she was so sad about it. I just secretly made and ordered a mug with her name on it. I can’t wait to
give her the gift. She’s not expecting it and that’s the best part. Surprises can
definitely be fun!
I hope these experiences of mine can trigger something in your mind about how YOU can spread cheer this season, too. But remember: have fun with it!
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