This Christmas end a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust. Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind; be gentle. Appreciate. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Gladden the heart of a child. Welcome a stranger. Take pleasure in the beauty and the wonder of Earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it yet Once again.
As you get older you start doing things in reverse. You start cutting people out from your life. Your Christmas list becomes practically nonexistent. You don’t need to be the first in line for everything. You take less pictures because some memories are best kept in your heart and not your hard drive. And instead of looking for love, you dig for it from within.
— Bookmarks in my life
Deep down inside we know that the best gifts don’t come from catalogs or shopping malls. They don’t come in brightly-colored packages or fancy envelopes and they’re not hiding in a closet for you to open on Christmas morning. The best gifts come from the heart. They come when we look at each other, REALLY look at each other and say: “You mean a lot to me or I’m so glad you’re part of my life”. A gift like that will never go out of style or be forgotten or be returned for a different size. A gift like that can make someone’s day, change someone’s life or even save a life.
~Ron Atchison.