There is no better time or opportunity to cultivate strong relationships than the Holiday Season. So rather than going into our default mode of “What on Earth am I gonna buy all these people for presents?”, let us instead ask ourselves “How can I give more of myself ? How can I make people smile?”
Granted, we live in COVID times, and we may not have the option of giving ourselves LIVE …… in person. But there are still other ways.
So over the next three Sundays (including this one), I will be offering ways we can give more of ourselves, cultivate relationships, and spread joy this holiday season.
For starters, lets consider taking this opportunity to mend lose ties. Consider our relationships that went sour, faded away, or just require a little extra maintenance (the ones worth keeping/salvaging that its). Make the effort and initiate contact. Start off with just idle innocent conversation. Unless absolutely necessary, there is no need to even mention the cause of the pain; sometimes just reconnecting heals all. Once you’ve had some quality bonding time, if the cause of the pain/tension must be brought up, apologize. Even if it is not our fault. If an apology lessens their pain, then attitudes with change and that will lessen our pain. Everybody wins. Fault is of very little importance, as long as there is mutual love and respect. We move on.