By: Kurt Waterstradt
Here we are again, that magical time of year. Okay, I’m biased. This is my favorite holiday season. It is the one time of year I feel really promotes joy, community, and happiness. Decorations go up, people come together, Christmas music fills the air (preferably Bing Crosby, Darlene Love, and Nat King Cole), peppermint mochas flow in every coffee shop, holiday movies fill the streaming queues, and there is perpetual laughter of children (young and old).
As the holidays build steam, Christmas shopping goes into full swing. You might have a lengthy list of people for whom to buy gifts. Friends and family might be asking what you want for Christmas. Tis the season for giving. But, before you brave a congested mall or give Amazon all your money, I happily offer you the greatest gift suggestion for this, or any holiday season: presence.
American author and psychotherapist John Eldredge said,
“The gift of presence is a rare and beautiful gift. To come unguarded, undistracted—and be fully present, fully engaged with whoever we are with at that moment.”
This is the most thoughtful holiday gift you can give. It’s a gift more valuable than anything you can wrap and place under a tree. This is distraction-free time. Turn off your phone, not in silence or airplane mode, and actually power it all the way down. Make space in your calendar where you’re completely unavailable to everyone except who you’re with. Allow that person to feel your love and gratitude for them by devoting all your attention to this moment.
We only have the present moment. Anything before the present is memory, and anything beyond the present is imagination. You’re only guaranteed the moment right now, which is why sharing your time, love, and attention is exquisite.
Active service personnel and veterans undoubtedly have memories of time lost due to their commitments. Perhaps it was a birthday, first baseball game, school recital, anniversary, or holiday you missed. Almost every person knows this feeling because life’s complicated, and things happen, whether they’re planned or not.
However, those missed moments weren’t about the gifts given or awards received. They are about the moments with people that make your life better—the inside jokes that occur, the hugs given, the smiles and laughs that fill everyone with joy, creating enduring memories that you’ll have until the end of time.
This holiday season, slow down, unwind, and turn off your phone. Pour a hot beverage for you and whomever you are with. Play a board game, build the least architecturally sound gingerbread house, or sword fight with candy canes (you know you’ve done this). However you celebrate this joyous time of year, do it with every atom of your presence because that gift is without equal.
I wish you a happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!