At this time of year, you may find yourself feeling the hustle and bustle of getting everything done. From decorating the house, buying the gifts, wrapping the presents, sending out cards and making arrangements to visit with family and friends. In the midst of all this, do you ever find time to slow down?

I was out shopping the other day finding all the parking spots taken and tons of people scurrying about trying to get it all done before moving on to the next thing on their to-do list. The other thing I noticed was that people were so busy in their scurrying that they were not aware of what was going on around them with cars driving recklessly through an open mall parking lot not seeing the potential for horrific accidents. I cringed and was very grateful that nothing went amiss.
It was at this moment that I realized the greatest gift everyone could give themselves and others was the ability to slow down and enjoy the season.

What about you? Are you taking the time to be in the moment allowing yourself to slow down, to be present to what is going on around you, to being grateful?

The best way to do this is to pause, breathe, and feel the love that is within you and within others. Share a smile. Hold the door for someone. Allow a car to merge in front of you.

It is the gift of slowing down, to be in this moment that is your greatest gift.  

 

 

To the holidays!

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Do you give yourself a gift?

A gift of permission that allows you to do something solely for you without the guilt that usually comes with giving to yourself.  The gift to live the best life you can.
I work with clients that tell me all the time … “giving to myself seems so selfish, so wrong”.  This is a typical way of feeling as you have grown up with the idea that you have to give first to others in order to receive something for yourself.  The idea of giving yourself something is crazy! What we miss in this is that it is ok to give something specifically to you … receiving a gift from yourself is a wonderful way to value you.
Here is my challenge …  give yourself “permission” to give a gift to you without the guilt. If you are giving to others, it is imperative to give back to yourself. Becoming depleted from giving all the time will not allow you to continue to give.

Choose you.  Grant yourself permission to put yourself first.

So this holiday season, wrap a present up to you giving that gift that you would love to have in your life. Do it and surprise everyone around you.
This year, my Mom gave her family the gift of surprising her – she chose herself by giving the gift of freedom from gift purchasing.  She gave us the money she would normally spend on us and told us to buy our own gifts, wrap them up from her and open them on Christmas Day. She can’t wait to see what she has given us as it is definitely something we are giving ourselves and her.

Giving the gift of permission is one of the steps to claiming your worth!
Give yourself that gift this season!

The post The Art of Giving appeared first on Denise Hansard.