Dearest Friend,
My wish for you this Christmas is that you find
everything you
want under the tree...and that you find these precious
gifts as
well.
The gift of Optimism. Some people see hanger behind every opportunity and
catastrophe behind every failure; others see excitement behind every risk
and a chance to grow behind every disappointment. These people are
successful in their work and in their personal lives, and it's their
optimism that makes the difference.
The gift of Enthusiasm...hard to define, hard to maintain, impossible to
fake for long. Enthusiastic people are the ones who fire us up, energize
us, help us see the positive side in any situation, and remind us that
while temporary setbacks are not a big deal, even small triumphs are. They
look on the bright side, as our grandmothers used to put it. They're
positive, energetic, seldom self-absorbed and almost never gloomy... and
the rest of us feel better just being around them.
The gift of Laughter. A sense of humor is the single most effective
weapon I know against self-pity, self-absorption and
self-importance. People who can laugh easily and
wholeheartedly...especially at themselves...are blessed indeed.
The gift of Forgiveness. The resentment we harbor when we judge and
criticize and hold grudges against other people corrodes our spirits, not
theirs, ruins our health, not theirs, wrecks our peace of mind, not
theirs. We must give ourselves the gift of forgiveness as well, because
when we don't forgive ourselves for our mistakes, we allow guilt and
self-loathing to poison our self-respect, self confidence and self-esteem.
I wish for you that from this day forward you will be as forgiving and
understanding of yourself as you are towards those around you.
The gift of Perspective. Without this gift, most people simply cannot
survive. Perspective is what helps us to set realistic priorities. It
allows us to shrug off the small crises that we encounter at the rate of
about a dozen a day and concentrate instead on what's really important.
The gift of Wonder. I wish for you that you will never stifle the sense of
wonder that you had as a small child, but instead will foster and nurture
it. It's the childlike quality that allows us to be curious, creative,
trusting and spontaneous.
The gift of Self-acceptance. Let's stop wasting any of our precious time
and energy second guessing and judging and criticizing the very person we
should trust and support without question...ourselves. Let's start giving
ourselves the benefit of the doubt, instead, start trusting our own
motives and decisions and choices, needs and desires, goals and methods.
The gift of Self-love. With this gift, you and I will finally know and
believe that there's nothing inherently wrong with us.
We aren't too smart or too dumb, too skinny or fat, too flighty or too
responsible, too serious or too frivolous, too career minded or too
domestic, too sexy or too frigid, too tall or too short, too dependent or
too independent, too complacent or too ambitious...too anything. We're
just right and while from time to time we may want to change some of the
things we do, there isn't a single thing that we need to change about who
we are.
May your holiday season be filled with joy and hope, peace and love, sweet
nostalgia and warm memories. And if you already have some of these gifts
that I've wished for you this Christmas, just pass them along
This was sent to me and I pass it on here. if only we all had these gifts.
--
bw
colin
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.geocities.com/tantra_apso/index.html
