Presents

A few weeks ago I got to go to a high school football game with a good friend. One of the top rivalries in the country and a school that he went to. Fifteen thousand people, tickets on the 50, perfect weather, the home band has over 400 members and they and the visiting band filled the field before kickoff. I jokingly asked…”Did we really HAVE to be here an hour early?” He said, “HAVE to? You GET to..!”

What a perfectly simple way to look at this time of year.

Around Halloween you take a look ahead and the activity calendar fills up pretty quick. Thanksgiving, shopping, singing Christmas trees, parties, sporting events, travel, family events, religious services. From one busy to the next. From one choice to the next. One opportunity to the next.

This time of year brings out the best and the worst of emotions.

Maybe you just remember how the holidays made you feel. Maybe yours was the Facebook update family with all of the perfectness, or this time of year can have toxic memories.

Rarely, when you recall the holidays when you were 7, 17, 27, etc can you recall a specific present that someone gave you. There are always the big ones. Maybe the bike or the toy that you really wanted.

The biggest presents are the times when someone forgave or showed grace and kindness when you didn’t deserve it. It didn’t cost money, but carried a burden. Your present to others can be the same. Not because you HAVE to, but because you GET to.

If love is spelled by the closest ones to you, T.I.M.E, then give it. Not because you HAVE to, because this life is short, you can’t take it with you, and you GET to.

Moments are captured rather than enjoyed. On a device, to be seen years later and probably deleted, rather than experienced at the moment.

I wish you all of the blessings of the season and that your greatest Present given and received from the ones that you care about the most is Presence.

Andrew Wilcox at (850) 629-9073, or Andrew@Wilcox-legal.com.