“Christmas is, of course, the time to be home – in heart as well as body.”

~ Garry Moore

 

Every year at this time of year, those memes go around with the Christmas To-Do list that has been altered. You know the one I’m talking about. Usually at the top it says something about buying a present. “Buying” is usually crossed out and then it says, “Be” instead. So “Be present.” I think too often we get wrapped up in that materialistic part of Christmas and forget about the joy of being with our loved ones. Honestly, it’s the time spent together that elicits the most memories, not just the things that we get.

I still remember those teenage years where the last thing that I wanted to do was to go to my grandmother’s house for the family Christmas dinner. I wanted to play with my new “toys” that I had gotten. I remember one in particular where I sat in a chair in the corner listening to my new Madonna and Lemonheads cassette tapes with my headphones and pretty much ignored everyone else around me.

As I grew older, I began to realize how much I cherished the time spent with my family. We had more memories of being together and having fun as opposed to the actual things that we received and gave. After I moved away from home, as in moving a few states over, I always made it a priority to get home to be with them. Now that they are all gone, I am so grateful that I did that. I was present for those presents. And I also tried hard to let go of stress that was getting me down from work and life and paid attention to my family. 

How will you make yourself be more present this year?