25 Tips for a Merry and Meaningful Holiday

“Happy Holidays!” It’s a greeting we all know and express December-January. But what does it mean to be happy and what does it take to accomplish it? The holiday season can be magical, yet occasionally melancholy with a touch of stress. To keep your season merry and meaningful, we will be sharing a tip a day on social media to keep you inspired and to fill your hearts throughout the coming weeks.

• Acknowledge what you have vs. what you don’t. Counting your blessings is among the most effective ways to keep a smile on your face.
• Start a family gratitude journal to help you accomplish tip number one.
• Take a moment to call (not text) an old friend you haven’t spoken to in ages, just to say hello.
• If you live in a climate with winter snow, get out and build a snowman, make snow angels, build a snow fort or have a snowball fight! Embrace the cold then chase it with hot chocolate.
• So—if you’ve done number four, why not anonymously shovel your neighbor’s walk?
• Make coupons for hugs, kisses or a promise of providing help to someone with a daunting task.
• Give a complete and total stranger a compliment.
• Invite a single, divorced or an elderly friend without a spouse to a dinner who often eats alone.
• Buy coffee for the person in line behind you in the drive-through.
• Slip a note of encouragement into a lunch bag, back pack, or spouse’s work tote or briefcase.
• Offer to host a playdate for a frantic friend with a crazy schedule.
• Sit down and read a book to your children—bedtime can get hectic and this is an activity that often gets scratched.
• Surprise your family with dinner delivered from a favorite restaurant.
• Send a card in a stamped envelope via US mail to a friend or family member to say, “I love you!”
• Write a note that lists your favorite things about a co-worker and leave it on their desk.
• Do you have a pet-obsessed family member or friend? Buy a box of treats or a toy for their fur baby.
• Take the kids to the dollar store and give them each $5.00 to spend on ANYTHING they chose.
• Grab the ingredients and make up a batch of slime with the kids—check Pinterest for recipes.
• Host a holiday movie or TV special marathon—simply follow our tutorial from last month.
• Volunteer to make a meal at a local homeless shelter or crisis nursery.
• Grab a group of your kids’ friends and go holiday songs at a nursing home.
• Adopt a family in need anonymously and fulfill their holiday gift wishes.
• Buy a bag of pet food and place in the pet store donations bin for homeless animals.
• Cook up some meals like lasagna or a casserole that can be frozen for a family with an ill parent.
• Sit down and talk to your child or children. Sometimes we get so busy and so overwhelmed with work and family schedules that we forget the power of a quality conversation. Make your child the focus of the exchange—ask questions and listen carefully.

I’m sure you saw the pattern here. The list requires a lot of doing and giving. Doing for others and giving of yourself delivers a very special satisfaction—and always a smile.

Until next month,

A.