It’s Christmastime again and everyone is bustling with lots of holiday plans. It’s possibly the busiest time of the year for all of us. The parties, the shopping, the family functions, the road trips, the decorations: you begin to wonder if you’ll get it all done!

With all this busy-ness it’s easy to forget what really matters. That’s why it’s so important to not forget to open the one gift that could make your holiday season (and every other season) worthwhile.

Imagine This…

You know the scene. The tree is decorated. The gifts are wrapped. Everyone anticipating the moment when they’ll be able to open up their gifts to see what wonderful ways their lives will be enriched. The gifts are passed around, everyone gets to open up their presents, and then you notice there’s still one gift left under the tree.

You walk over to it, wondering who it might belong to, and it’s addressed to you. Curious, you pick it up and take a look. It doesn’t look too big or too small. It’s one of those presents that you might look over in a lineup of gifts. There’s no one listed as the gift giver so you ask around to see if anyone will take responsibility for it. No one does so you’re left with the decision of whether or not to open it.

There are so many things running through your mind. What if I open it and it was meant for someone else? Why should I trust a gift that has no giver listed on it? I could just leave it there and ignore it. Or I could open it up and check out what’s inside. What should I do?

You stand there, confounded by the decision. Lost in the thoughts that keep swirling around in your head. Finally, you decide to open it.

As you begin to rip off the wrapping paper, you have a hard time making out exactly what’s inside. After you fully unwrap it you realize that it’s a framed word cloud full of identifiers and adjectives. It says things like “confident, alive, and powerful” as well as “courageous, compassionate, and creative.” You begin to feel your emotions elevating as you continue to read the words before you and as your eyes gaze beyond the words you realize that in the background, behind the words, is a picture of you!

These words were describing you. Words like “genuine, generous, and inspiring” grab your attention in a new way as you begin to understand more fully what this gift is really about.

Convinced it was your mother who must have prepared this present for you, you bring it to her and thank her for the gift. She’s surprised, though, and doesn’t take the credit. Confused, you make your way around the room asking anyone and everyone who it was that left this gift for you. Exhausted, you take one last look at your gift to see if there are any identifying markers that might have been left by the giver. As you look at the back of the frame you notice something small written in the bottom right hand corner.

As your eyes make their way down to the bottom you read your own name.

You feel a peace come over you as you realize that this gift has been under the tree of your heart all along, you just never opened it. Now it’s time to honor the present and make your life a gift for others.

Author and spiritual teacher, Marianne Williamson said, “The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best within us.” The gift all of us must never neglect to open is the gift of ourselves truly alive! We are only truly at our best when we stop settling and start living.

Never settle for less when your heart is crying out for more!

Happy Holidays!

Question: What are 3 words that you would find in your frame? Describe what your life would look like if you were fully alive! You can leave a comment by clicking here.