It is the holiday season. A time for celebration and old friends, mistletoe and the oh, so patient stockings. Gather all your hopes and expectations and sit beside the fire. Hang your glittering memories like tinsel from the tree. Tis the season of anticipation, excitement and joy.
But often, there is a certain sadness, too. The disappointments. The things we didn’t finish. A longing or a regret that sometimes goes unnoticed amid all the cookies and the cheer. The holidays are all of this. Our lives are all of this.
The greatest gift you can offer is not what you picked up at the store or bought on-line. Your real gift is not any present, but your presence. It is your heartfelt attention and ear. It is your understanding and forgiveness, your patience and encouragement. Your true gift is the joy that comes from the honest, heart-to-heart encounter with that other human being standing right beside you.
Wishing you many heartfelt connections this holiday.
How true Sean and beautifully said. The gift of being present in honesty and heart-to-heart is the most precious. We can be next to someone and still be miles away, our thoughts carried away by our projects and plans… or regrets and troubles. When we are truly present for the other, open and aware, listening deeply and looking deeply at the other from the heart we the greatest gift.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment Jyotsna. It is only when we are present that we can hope to hear what people don’t always know how to say.