The Good Feelings of the Holiday Season – All Year Round

You have got to love the holiday season because it typically generates good feelings in us towards our fellow man.
It is the season of giving after all!

It is important not to be too caught up in the good feelings of the season. As we can lose sight of the point: giving is not about good feelings!

It is about helping those less unfortunate than yourself.

The most noteworthy fact is that most of our charity is seasonal and it should be a source of shame, not pride.

I’m not talking about donating money as that is a fine thing to do. I’m talking about the personal person-to-person giving. It is about really reaching out and helping our fellow human beings.  We should be enriching others’ lives without worrying about enriching our own.

By all means, give this holiday season.

For many people, the holidays are a time for giving back. By volunteering at soup kitchens, dropping toys at donation bins, and/ or donating to the Salvation Army at Christmas. However, please keep in mind that people need your help year-round and those in need of help come from all walks of life.

Therefore those who are are fortunate enough to be living well above the poverty line, should be grateful for what they have.

We can sometimes take for granted that we have enough food, decent clothing, access to medical and a well-built shelter. As a result we can be more focused on what we want to have than what we can give. In addition, it is important to know the impact you could have on the less fortunate by just giving a part of yourself. Whether that means giving your time, saying kind words or even helping out financially.

We must remember that we can greatly affect those around us in either a positive or negative way. Most of all, human beings typically want to influence positively on the world around us.

To do that we should reflect on this quote by His Holiness the XIVth (Current) Dalai Lama:

“Every day, think as you wake up
>> Today I am fortunate
to have woken up.
I am alive.
I have a precious human life
I am not going to waste it.
I am going to use
all my energies to develop myself,
to expand my heart out to others,
to achieve enlightenment for
the benefit of all beings.
I am going to have
kind thoughts towards others.
I am not going to get angry,
or think badly about others.
I am going to benefit others
as much as I can.”

Do and act on what you believe to be right, and you’ll wake up the next morning feeling good about yourself.

So be grateful of the things you have, be kind to all and always look to impove someone’s life. Evey small thing helps create a better world that we can be proud of instead of ashamed of at the end of each year.

May you start or continue enriching others’ lives without worrying about enriching our own.

I wish you and yours a happy holiday season full of good fortune.

Nicky Cane

P.S. Comment below on how you have enriched another persons life within the last year?
If you can’t think of one, then start right now with a small act of kindness.