GOOD GIFTS

by Marcus Stringer

It is the time for giving we call it various things, Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice. Millions of us run here and there, frantically searching for the "perfect" gift to give to our loved ones, friends and co-workers. But what kinds of gifts are you going to give yourself? What are the gifts that you gave to yourself during this past year?

In the hustle and bustle of this time of year, remember the three (3) good gifts you can give to yourself:

First, give yourself personal honesty. I'm not speaking about what you do and say before others, but what you do and say to yourself when you are by yourself. It is from this personal honesty that you really will be able to relate honestly with others.

Second, give yourself courage. Give yourself permission to dare, to dream and to make those dreams real. If you don't give yourself permission, why should others? Besides, someone else might be looking to you to show the way to light and FULL and FREE life. Remember that you are here because others dreamed and dared to do good things. Are others learning to dare, dream, and do good things because of you? In this age of extreme individualism coupled with often negative and self-defeating "group-think", have courage to break free to the good.

Third, give yourself forgiveness. None of us is perfect, and it is likely that in this life, none of us will ever be truly perfect. So stop being so unforgiving of yourself. This does not mean ignore the hurtful things you might do to others or to yourself, it just means face and embrace the fact that you are human. Once you have forgiven yourself, and in courage you try to do better, you are likely to believe that a "God" can forgive you too, and with that, you might be able to forgive others.

Joy and Peace of God be with and in you now and never ending.

Marcus

Copyright note: This story may be freely re-posted over the internet exactly as it appears, including authorship credit, provided *this* paragraph is also included intact. For any other use or form of reproduction or distribution, please obtain the author’s written permission in advance. Copyright © 1998 by Marcus Stringer
Email: goodguy_Sea@yahoo.com
Website: http://geocities.datacellar.net/~mhaven/.