This time of year – a time of peace and goodwill – can be one of the most stressful for us, particularly when it comes to buying presents. We often feel an enormous amount of pressure to get it all ‘right’.  To help ease some of the strain, I’ve come up with a few suggestions.

How do I decide?

Generally we give presents because it feels nice to make others happy, right? Therefore the key thing is to give our purchases some thought. Even a little goes a long way.

“Sure”, I hear you say, “but where do I start?”

Start by making a short list of some of the things you know about the recipient – even as few as five things will give you ideas (and if you don’t know five things about them, do you really need to give them a present?). For instance, a list…

The Christmas season is upon us, following Thanksgiving and Black Friday. All three occasions provide opportunities for the best and the worst within us to come out and play. It is mostly the worst that emerges – greed, selfishness, consumer madness. With the festive season now going full blast, let us all begin a reassessment that all of us can do.  It is time to move on from being so self-absorbed and distracted. Let us find the opportunities to locate ourselves in something bigger – a cause, respecting the earth, making our thinking better, being kinder and more generous.

How about examining our habit energies around gift giving and learn to give gifts that really make a difference? Why not begin by participating less in the expected excess of mindless consumerism of Christmas buying? I have taken that small step and no longer buy Christmas gifts. Instead, I present donations…