THE BEST GIFTS IN LIFE CANNOT BE FOUND IN STORES. THEY ARE FOUND IN OUR STORIES.
In the spirit of the holidays, we did something a little different for this post. Most of us enjoy giving neatly wrapped presents at this time of the year. Those are fun, but here are some out-of-the-box gift ideas to help share stories this holiday season:
1. Make a point of telling your friends and family members how much you appreciate them, and maybe even mention something specific about them that you admire. This can be a wonderful gift, even if they already know your feelings about them. You could do this in a card or letter, but face-to-face can be even more special and more memorable.
2. Describe a particularly important value to a young person who is at an impressionable age. Possibilities might include selflessness, generosity, humbleness, loyalty, self-discipline. Share a story with the child in which a family member or someone else in the child’s experience who once demonstrated, or continues to demonstrate, that value. Explain that such stories are meant to be shared and passed along to young people.
3. Gather a small group of friends or relatives in a setting with relatively few distractions. Explain that you would like to initiate a new holiday tradition of sharing each person’s favorite story about an older relative, or about the year that is about to end. If the mood is right, maybe encourage fun or uplifting stories about anyone in the room.