It's been a tough year for those of us in the real estate business. And Christmas with its endless opportunities to spend money we just don't have can be a very anxious and depressing time. Instead of enjoying this seasonal celebration of peace and love, we can end up feeling stressed, deprived and jealous of those people bustling through the mall, shopping bags stuffed with gifts.
But what do our loved ones really want? They want US - and all the things we bring to their lives.
As infants, they want to be cradled next to a warm body with milk. As toddlers, they want every second of our undivided attention - "See me do this, Mommy! Look what I made, Daddy!" When they get a little older, children want our involvement. They want us to play a game with them, not just give them a game.
Then they become teenagers...and they want us to disappear from the face of the earth! Most of the time, anyway. But sometimes they just want us to LISTEN to them, without lecturing. As for the adults on our list, they want to feel loved and cherished and appreciated.
So this year, I'm giving 12 special gifts to my true loves, starting today - gifts from my Soul. And the first gift is the gift of Laughter.
Let's face it - I haven't exactly been a joy to be around lately. I come home like the Grinch, griping about all those Whos down in Whoville, wanting their short sales and their higher appraisals and their loan approvals tied up in packages, boxes and bows. I'm certainly not bringing home bundles of joy!
So today, I'm going to smile at my loved ones. I'm going to be the Mom my son in college reminded me that I used to be when we spoke over Thanksgiving. He said he didn't mind all the hours of back breaking labor we've put in together, creating gardens out of weed-filled rocky slopes, because we always found things to laugh about while we worked.
Today instead of fighting the crowds at the mall or at Walmart, we're going to pop some popcorn, curl up together in front of the fire and have a Marathon of Mirth. We'll take turns sharing the funniest things that happened to us this year and finish with one of our family's favorite funny movies - maybe "Baby's Day Out" or "Home Alone." We may not be able to go dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh - but I'm going to do my best to see that whatever we do today, we'll be laughing all the way.
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