Â鶹ÊÓƵ

How much stuff do you have? 

How much more stuff do you want? 

How much do you owe? 

Of course I don’t expect you to respond. It’s a rhetorical question for self-examination. 

This is the time to overdo it, overindulge and, for the most part, you’re allowed to do it because it’s a special time in your lives, or it can be. 

So the powers invested in me (which are none by the way), allows me to give you permission to go overboard on the getting and giving files.

I’m at the stage where I find more pleasure in the giving than the getting … but don’t let that stop you if you care to drop a few items on my doorstep. 

I don’t have a Christmas tree set up, and haven’t for several years, but that doesn’t have to stop us from diving into the spirit of the moments that this season affords us. 

So keep your lights shining dear diary. There is nothing wrong with a little excessive spending, the retail community appreciates your largesse and the clicking of the four digits on the access card that indicates you’ve just added to the gross domestic product of Saskatchewan. I know, a lot of you shop online so your goodies will be delivered from some warehouse in Minneapolis or Houston. To each their own. If keyboarding your purchases is how you get your kicks, rather than strolling around a store in your parkas and boots, I understand.

Next week, I may address the world of cyber-purchases, but right now, we’re discussing the love of buying, giving and getting in any form.

Hey, some of us don’t mind just sitting back while enjoying the chaos that usually accompanies large gatherings that include gifts, wrapping paper, bags and food. Ya gotta love those who do catch the full-blown spirit of the whole game and are willing participants in the action. What’s not to like about spirited personalities? These are the people who get the rest of us excited and engaged. 

So go out and get something nice for someone else, just because it will make you feel good. I guarantee it! It can be something expensive, if you’re well enough off, or it can be something quite simple and inexpensive. It could be something you already owned and wanted someone else to have and know they would appreciate it. I know the bride and I have done that a few times and never regretted it. 

It’s not about how much you spend, it’s about being in the moment and enjoying the who and the what that is swirling around you.

And that’s my feel good Christmas season note to you dear diary. 

In closing, I heard the other day that  gifts sent to those in developing countries are really taking off in terms of participation. One gift catalogue for World Vision for example had 2,500 Saskatchewan participants alone with 26 of them being from Estevan. Those Estevanites sent $5,755 worth of practical gifts, such as goats or chickens, to families who would otherwise be stuck in go-nowhere poverty conditions. 

The Ipsos Reid poll indicated people in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Atlantic Canada were most likely to give the meaningful gifts to developing countries, such as livestock, clean water, medical supplies or the opportunity to go to school. 

On the home front, we discuss clothes, electronics and toys; and as noted earlier, we’re allowed to go overboard. Just remember, education and potable water can be wonderful gifts, too.