Gifts with Soul
by Mary Jo Marchionni, CCCC

Ah, yes. The holidays are approaching again. Once again, it is time for us to get stressed out, aggravated, and wrack our brains for gift ideas for the person who has everything. Fun, fun fun!!! Did I mention the stress part?

If you are like most soulful women, you know that Aunt Tillie really does not need one more marcasite pin. You know that in this age of mounting credit card debt, people are not exactly going on consumer diets in America. We are, as a nation, so spiritually bankrupt that we are becoming personally bankrupt in an effort to ease the pain of living. I don’t know about you, but I am sick of seeing holiday consumerism before the new school year even starts. Christmas in July? NO THANKS!! What happened to having time to enjoy the season we are actually in? Christmas stuff is out when it is not even Halloween!!

I am not suggesting that we need to abolish holiday gift giving altogether. What I am suggesting is that before you get into the car, go to the mall, fight the crowds and hope you are not repeating the theme of last year’s pin, why don’t you take a moment to investigate giving a charitable donation in your gift recipient’s name? This process will still allow you to give and will also do much to allay your disillusionment with the consumerism of what was once considered a sacred time of year. One charity that I find particularly interesting is Heifer International. This organization operates on the principle of not giving the recipient the fish, but teaching them how to fish. They have symbolic gifts that correspond to set dollar amounts. For example, you can give a gift of a flock of chicks for about $20 US. This will allow the recipients to raise the chicks and eat and sell the eggs and to raise new chicks produced from the flock. Heifer also stipulates that some of the offspring of these gifts must be shared with neighboring towns and villages. This process is fascinating; it empowers the recipient rather than making them feel as if they are getting a handout. They can take a proactive role in the betterment of themselves and their families. There is no better way to experience the true meaning of the holiday season.

Sponsor a family through your local church; give to a local homeless shelter. Do something this year to take the consumer “bite” out of the holidays. Take a stand and do not give into the pressure to buy a spoiled child one more $75 toy that they will use for 5 days, max. It is crucial at this time in American history that we begin to teach youngsters the importance of giving and of public service. At the risk of sounding like a cliché, we really do need to work together to make the world a better place. The younger the children are when we bring these issues into their awareness, the more extraordinary adults we will have on hand to become future leaders. Choosing a charitable cause can be a fun family activity that will produce many years worth of fond memories and enhanced personal and spiritual growth for our children.

Mary Jo is a spiritually-based career and personal coach whose specialties include career redesign, creativity, practical spirituality and life balance. She received certification as a Comprehensive Career Coach from Comprehensive Coaching U. She is passionate about assisting people in uncovering their true passion and helping them to achieve their dreams! Contact her for a 30-minute complimentary coaching session at 610.446.3704 or maryjo@coachmaryjo.com to see if the coaching relationship is a fit for you. Visit her website at http://www.coachmaryjo.com and subscribe to her FREE monthly ezine, Extraordinary Living. Get on the path to true joy today!

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Artists Helping Children is a Children's site dedicated to comforting children by empowering artists and others to donate artwork, donated murals, donated art supplies, donated toys and a lot of love to sick and needy children. Artists Helping Children also helps artists by giving them information on how they can help the sick and poor children by volunteering to paint murals and other art for hospitals, shelters, clinics, etc. No child should ever have to be sad or have to suffer, that is why we hope that more artists and individuals will help bring colorful art to white walled institutions. We also give you ideas on how and where to donate crayons, colored pencils, clay, markers, paper, and other arts and crafts supplies ... such as what hospitals and shelters you could use these arts supplies to bring a little hapiness and joy to these childrens' lives and to so many white-walled institutions. We also have filled this site with free coloring pages & coloring printouts for children to color with as well as 1000s of free arts and crafts projects for kids to use when they need some crafts ideas. Read Charity Articles