An Old Fashion Christmas of Giving

by Aurea McGarry, TV Show Host of Live Your Legacy

October 30, 2008

T he holidays are upon us and for the first time in a very long time I feel like it is not going to be shopping as usual. As a community of Americans, we may all be feeling a sense of uneasiness in our economy and therefore a hesitation in our normal spending spree during this holiday season.

Fear not, I am here to give you a cup of good cheer. As I pondered on all of our current affairs, our high gas prices and our recent lack of gas around our Atlanta communities. I had a wonderful “aha’ moment. As we all know, the holidays are not about how much shopping we can do, so how about turning back time this year? Experiencing the simple and joyous holiday pleasures the way our great grand parents once did.

Allow me to share an idea with you that I believe may be over due, you decide. We all know in our hearts how commercialized our holidays have become and how many people go into more debt during their well intentioned shopping sprees to give those they love a wonderful season of gift giving. We all want to show our love and appreciation to others with the latest holiday “wow’ gifts. But, how about joining me this year in going back in time to a place where it is not about the price of the gifts or the latest high tech gadgets, but it being about the old fashion thought that counts.

This year my family and I are going to be creative in our gift giving and in the process, spend a lot of fun and memorable time together, more then ever before. Turning these hard times of lemons into much needed lemon-aide. A trip to the craft store to buy the ingredients needed to make wonderful hand made gifts with each recipient’s favorite things in mind while teaching our kids the value of how far ten dollars really can go when you make it by hand. Imagine a Christmas wreath filled with family pictures and even hand and paw prints. Christmas stockings filled with homemade peppermint candy made together while listening to Christmas carols. Just think, time together with family and presents that family and friends can cherish because they are one of a kind. How about learning a holiday tradition from your original place of birth, Austria, Italy, Germany do you have several in your linage, could you learn something new about one of them? And start a new family tradition?

Corny? Perhaps, but I am going to go out on a limb here even further and share one more holiday idea that I feel is the most important and if our hard times encourages even one more person to join me this year in this endeavor, then the hard times have already had a silver lining. 

Donating time to your favorite charity. Yes, take your family and get involved this year in giving back the most priceless thing that we all possess, our time. This year I am going to enjoy getting involved with Toys For Tots, Dream House For Medically Fragile Children and a few orphanages that I have been introduced to this past year through my TV show. Imagine taking your kids to an orphanage or children’s shelter and bringing balloons, homemade cookies, and a few holiday books off your shelf and spending an hour or so reading books and playing games with kids that would be so grateful to see you that your whole out look on life could take a turn that would never go back to the old status quo of thinking again. The gift of time last forever.

What are you going to do different this year? How are you going to give back or make a difference in peoples lives?  How are you living your legacy? And how will people remember you? Let us know. Tell us how you are enriching lives around you this year and how you have in the past. We want to know.

You might even be such a wonderful philanthropist already that you could be nominated to be on my Atlanta TV show titled “Live Your Legacy With Aurea McGarry” Log on and find out more and have a very fullfilling holiday season. http://wwwliveyourlegacytv.com