A Christmas List for All...

Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness

To an opponent, tolerance

To a friend, your heart

To a customer, service

To all, charity

To every child, a good example

To yourself,...respect.

-Oren Arnold

***

December 7, 2010.

The list seems daunting. So many things that in the moment we hesitate.

• Forgive an enemy? But they are the enemy....
• A good example? How do I do this and know that it is enough to make the child notice?....
• Tolerance to the one I am competing with...yeah those snarky comments about their slowness/lack probably is not tolerance...
• A friend my heart? Don't I do that, don't I always lend an ear....or do I?...
• A customer? I am friendly and try my best to work with my business associates in a serviceable manner - is it enough?
• Charity...for all? Did I ignore the bell and walk on in, hurrying out of the cold? Did I let the door slam on the couple as they entered the store?
• Respect...for me. For the one person who must look at the list and take in all its tasks, place them within my heartstrings and become better with each item...yes...respect:
• for the little girl in me who still stands amazed at the dazzling Christmas lights...
• for the teenage girl in me whose heart beats faster every time her beau holds her hand...
• for the young woman in me who marvels at the places in her life she has seen and excites at those to come...
• for the person I am who is a work in progress, a person who knows that every day she must accept her flaws and love them all the same, make decisions to be proud of and learn to accept the things we cannot change with dignity...

Yes, a list. A Christmas list that should last the whole year through. It may appear to be daunting, you may wonder whether or not you have checked it twice; but the most important part of all is that you acknowledge the list.

Memorize it.

I have many lists...this is merely one. Small and simple, easy to remember but quite possibly the hardest to complete - therefore my most important.

Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays...Happy Lists!