I hope you are enjoying the magic of this season and that your holidays are blessed with joy, peace and love. In my yoga class this morning, the teacher asked us how many of us had moments of absolute joy this year. Everyone raised his or her hand. Then she asked us how many of us had moments of struggle and incredible pain. Again, all hands were up. That is the human experience – it’s joy AND pain.

No matter what your holiday experience has been like, can you be at peace with your human experience and ALL it gifts you with?

From this place of gratitude, I’d like to offer you two gifts to give that are an absolute must this holiday season. Now that you have wrapped and unwrapped the physical gifts you have given and received, it is time to bring your gift giving to another level.

The first is a gift to give yourself that is the gift of an inner experience that cultivating this year would be a total game changer for you. What could you gift yourself with that would create different results in your life? What could you gift yourself with that would free you from your old story and the struggle and suffering that goes with it? Perhaps it is the gift of self-acceptance. Or the gift of embracing and expressing your creativity. Or the gift of positive thinking. Or the gift of being in the present moment instead of obsessing about the past or worrying about the future.

There are infinite gifts of an inner experience that you could give yourself – think of the one that would be most transformational. I noticed this year I indulged in comparing myself to others in various aspects of my life and it did not feel good! So I am giving myself the gift of freedom from comparison and truly owning and enjoying my unique gifts.

The second gift to give is an inner shift that would alter your relationship dynamic with the most challenging person in your life. Think of who really pushes your buttons and ask what inner experience you could cultivate that would transform the way YOU show up. Maybe it is forgiveness, which will free you from the resentment you carry into your interactions. Maybe it is a sense of humor that will lighten up how seriously you take the other person. This isn’t a gift to tell the other person about – it’s something you do inside yourself. I am giving a challenging person in my life the gift of unconditional love. Instead of expecting and wanting this person to be different and avoiding them because they are not, I am gifting them with truly accepting them for who they are. And I can tell you this has already created a shift in my interaction with them.

As this holiday season comes to an end, remember the most important gift you give yourself and others is how you show up in every moment.

Many blessings,

Christine

“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” Voltaire

“A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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