What Christmas Gives To Me!
The holidays have a way of revealing what matters most.
Life does not get quieter this time of year. Days fill up quickly. Commitments stack. Expectations rise. In the middle of it all, the holidays remind us that they have never been about ease or convenience. They are about intention.
The Christmas season is about choosing connections, when many things compete for our attention.
At their heart, the holidays are about showing up for what is important.
Reaching out to important people.
Saying what needs to be said instead of assuming someone already knows.
Asking for help when we need it and offering it freely when we can.
Courage and clarity are required to make time for important things and people.
My personal choices this year…Christmas Eve is my stepmother's DAY and has been for almost 25 years. My mom passed away when I was pregnant with my parents’ first grandchild in 1998. It was really hard to celebrate Christmas with a new baby and my mother absent. In 2002, with now two young daughters by my side, my dad married my stepmother, Barbara. It was Barbara’s first marriage, and she became an instant grandmother/Nonna at 49 years old.
She is the only grandmother my children have ever known. She stepped up and stepped into EVERYTHING it takes to be a wonderful grandmother. This Christmas season, I finally told her in person how much I appreciate the grandmother she didn’t have to be, she chose to be it. Christmas Eve is all about honoring her, because it is her favorite, and all that she does for all five grandchildren, between my sister and me, the other 364 days of the year.
The holidays also call us back to listening. Real listening. The kind that does not rush to fix or respond. When schedules are full and energy is stretched, listening becomes an act of generosity.
The holidays, Christmas for me, remind me to receive as well as give well. To pause when someone offers trust, kindness, or a simple yes. Not everything needs to be explained or improved. Some moments are complete just as they are.
This season is not about doing less. It is about remembering why we are doing any of it at all.
Love that shows up in action.
Faith that looks like compassion.
Leadership that feels like service.
Success that includes the people around us.
As the year comes to a close, my hope for you is simple. Amid everything competing for your time and attention, choose connection, choose presence, choose heart. That is what the holidays have always been about. Merry Christmas!