Don’t Stress: Give the Gift of Time
I remember as a single mom the stress and pressure of trying to give my daughter the best Christmas ever…especially because I knew her friends were getting awesome new bikes and shiny new Barbie dolls and all I could do was pray to get a mini sized tree and ornaments from the dollar store. It forced me to have to be creative and come up with meaningful ways to give, not only to her, but in general. As the holidays are upon us and there is sure to be a lot of last minute scrambling consider these gifts that are worth more than money can buy. I encourage people to be up front. This has been a financially difficult year for a lot of people but it doesn’t have to break you. Instead of physical gifts, give intangible ones this year that are actually ridiculously higher in value and will last far far longer. Here are some ideas.
Vow to Spend Quality time with friends/family members outside of the holidays: Be it a phone call, or zoom call these days, you have no idea the magic behind a phone call to let someone know you are thinking about them, or a consistent coffee break or meet up chat in the park. Carve out a specified time (ie first Sunday of each month at 11am) and make that their time and come hell or high water, nothing will keep you from reaching out at that time.
Volunteer at a local organization: Volunteering with a loved one (child, spouse, and even a friend) can create unspeakable bonds. When doing it together, not only are you making a difference in your community, but you are creating unspeakable bonds and have a shared feeling of accomplishment and creating memories for years to come. Volunteermatch.org is a great place to start your search as they have a variety of opportunities to fit just about any taste. If you love waking up early and getting in a workout and helping people battling homeless at the same time, consider www.backonmyfeet.org
Acts of Service: Vow to provide a service based upon your gifts or talents. If you are good at fixing cars, offer that at no cost for a predetermined amount of time. If you cook, offer to cook for someone a few times (especially if they buy the ingredients, then its a plus!) If you are a writer, write a book for a child and include them in the process. Whatever your gift is, offer it. It will be personalized and one of a kind.
Give Your Written Word: Write a poem, or a letter, or answer questions about yourself that you may have never shared before in a memory journal My Story. My Words. Love, Mom: A Guided Keepsake Journal For My Daughter and wrap it up and give it to them.
Make Something: If all of this sounds great, but you really want to have something tangible to give, all sorts of things can be made from scratch from cards to baked goodies to literally just about anything, and don’t sleep on the $Tree. I have seen people make phenomenal creations from the $Tree for only $10. Check out the picture below…I didn’t do this btw.
The whole point is, if you are stressing, take a step back and look at it differently. It is the spirit of giving, but what better gift is there to give than yourself (within boundaries of course). Don’t let money, or lack thereof, ruin your holiday season. Look at it as a way to reinvent yourself and build lasting memories with those who are most important to you. I hope this helps. Happy Holidays and stay sane.
Nicole is a Panamanian-American, workforce development specialist, published author of Game On! Relentlessly Pursue Your Dreams and the 101 Note-taking Affirmation Journal Series, world renowned motivational speaker, bloggerpodcast host of From The Suggestion Box; Navigating Feedback The Good The Bad and the Say Whaaatttt??? and dancer. She earned her Bachelor’s degree via a Division I full-ride track scholarship and after graduating, she founded Step It Up! Inc., a non-profit dance organization that allowed her to perform for audiences nationwide and used dance to teach teamwork to kids in after school programs.
Her experience in sports entertainment, radio, TV, the performing arts and social services has spanned nearly 20 years covering the Chicago, Houston, Ft. Lauderdale/Miami and Orlando markets. She has danced and cheered for four Professional and Semi-Professional sports teams, has prepared more than 800 interns to enter the workforce and has inspired crowds upwards of 2000.
She has been a proud mentor for the Tessitura Network’s Early Career Development program for the past three years which is a free program dedicated to diversifying Arts leadership. She has the opportunity to mentor young arts professionals of Latino, Black and Asian decent to help them not only find their voice , but express it in the board rooms in arts organizations.
She was a contributing writer for The Life of a Single Momfor two years and has been published in several industry journals including The Volunteer Management Report, Human Capital Leadership Magazine and Chronicle Philanthropy Magazine.
As a nod to her belief in continuous education, in 2021 she earned her certification in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from the USF Muma College of Business.I
She has received several accolades to include being named in the Marquis Who’s Who for professionals, receiving an Emerging Leader Award from Alive Impact Awards for Volunteer Engagement Professionals, awarded the Amplifying Voices Award from United Latinas, being listed as one of WLRN’s “Local Women Who Inspire You”and being selected as one of Legacy Miami’s Most Prominent and Influential Black Women In Business and Industry of 2019.
She is passionate about giving back to her community. and does so by sitting on the Boards of theAssociation for Leaders In Volunteer Engagementand Ageless CHIC Magazineand is aformer Board Member of theArts and Business Council of Miami.
