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Title: The Five Best Gifts to Give Your Family Author: Margaret
Paul, Ph.D. E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright:
© 2003 by Margaret Paul Web Address: http://www.innerbonding.com
Word Count: 744 Category: Parenting, Relationships
THE FIVE BEST GIFTS TO GIVE YOUR FAMILY By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
When we think of giving gifts, we usually think of things to buy
for people. Yet if you think back on gifts you’ve been given, it
might not be the material gifts you received that are foremost
in your mind - it might be the kind of gifts that deeply touched
your heart and soul. It might be various ways, other than
material things, that people expressed their love to you.
There are five gifts of love that we can give to our families
that can make a huge difference in their lives.
THE GIFT OF CARING AND COMPASSION
We all yearn to feel cared for, yet many of us withhold caring
and compassion for others. A profound gift we can give to our
loved ones is to listen with our heart, to understand and accept
rather than to judge, and to stay open to learning rather than
to protect against being hurt.
Think about the last time someone actually listened to you and
gave you understanding and acceptance. The feeling of being
understood and accepted with caring and compassion is one of the
best feelings in the world. Instead of focusing on getting this
from others, why not focus on giving it to others? You might be
surprised at how wonderful you feel in giving this gift to your
family.
THE GIFT OF COURAGE
One of the best gifts we can give our loved ones is our own
courage. This means being having the courage to stand in our
truth, to be honest about what we want and don’t want, what we
will do and won’t do, what is and what is not acceptable to us.
It means having the courage to take good care of ourselves, even
if others don’t like it. It means not succumbing to our
controlling behaviors that come from fear: anger, withdrawal,
compliance, resistance, but instead being honest and above-board
about ourselves. It means being willing to face conflict rather
than give ourselves up to avoid it.
When we have the courage to face conflict and tell the truth, we
not only provide our family with a role model for courage, but
we provide opportunities for our loved ones to step up to the
plate in the face of our truth and learn to be courageous too.
THE GIFT OF SERVICE
We are on this planet to learn to love ourselves and each other,
and to help each other. One of the best gifts we can give our
family is to role model this by doing service. Helping others
fills the heart and soul in ways that nothing else can. If
children do not see their parents doing service and helping
others, they may never learn the great joy and fulfillment that
comes from giving. One of the best gifts we can give to our
family is to provide ways of doing service.
THE GIFT OF CREATIVITY
All of us are born with various ways of expressing our
creativity. Expressing creativity is a profound way of
connecting with Spirit, since expressed creativity is a direct
expression of Spirit. Providing your family with many ways of
expressing their creativity is a great gift. Creativity can be
expressed in so many ways - cooking, crafts, building things,
music, art, movement, telling stories, writing, humor,
photography and video - the possibilities are endless! Creative
family projects are especially wonderful in creating family
closeness.
THE GIFT OF LIGHTNESS OF BEING
Lightness of being - fun, joy, laughter, playfulness - is a
great gift to give to others. Lightness of being is infectious -
our laughter and playfulness can help others take life less
seriously and “lighten up.”
Lightness of being is one the results of all the other gifts -
of caring, courage, service and creativity. When we give these
gifts, we feel a wonderful lightness within, the lightness that
is the result of fully giving from the heart. Our own lightness
of being can bring lightness into our whole family. Children
love it when their parents are playful, funloving and joyful.
Laughing together as a family is one of the most precious
experiences in life.
We need to focus of giving these gifts each day, not just during
a holiday season or special occasions. These gifts are far more
important than any material thing we can buy for someone. In
fact, we might not be so focused on material gifts if we
frequently give the gift of love - of caring, compassion,
courage, service, creativity, and lightness of being.