Green with Envy

Stores all over town are getting ready for the holidays. Colorful decorations, inventive displays and amazing holiday ideas are flooding our senses. No matter who you are there is something for everyone. Lights, gadgets, new and improved things appear all over to fill our eyes, our stockings, or our gift boxes. It can be exciting and a bit like sensory overload when you enter a store or shopping area. 

I like to go into stores during the holidays to see the displays and ideas. I am  always curios to see what is new and how everything is being displayed. I find it fascinating to see what the ‘big’ thing is this year, what are the trends heading towards, and what useless item are they working hard to convince us to buy. Year after year there is always something the grand committee of ‘they’ are working furiously to get us to give to someone we know. For some last minute shoppers the fun is inthe  challenge and it is no longer about the gift. It is as if the entire marketing world pumps us to the point where we are green wtih envy so we think we want what everyone else wants. The challenge is resisting everything we are told, sold or expected to deliver. The real goal is to give from the heart and fill the receiver with joy. My guess is most marketing firms know nothing about my family or what will make them truly happy. 

Instead of buying things to keep up with the times or the Joneses, instead of working to free yourself from being green with envy, why not simply give a gift you think will make the person content. Why not give a gift of service, or something you made, or even give a donation in the person’s name. Do they really need more stuff, or do they need more of you? Enjoy the festivities without the competition or envy. Savor the people you love not the best gift at the mall.