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FROM GOOD OLE UNCLE VICDecember 2007
Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! Feliz Navidad! Ah, the holiday season; for many people their favorite time of the year.
The answer to last month’s trivia question: What is the largest indoor tennis facility in the East Coast? It used to be our new sister club, The Green Spring Racquet Club with 14 indoor tennis courts and 12 indoor racquetball courts but now I have been informed that it is the Port Washington Tennis Facility in Long Island with 17 indoor courts. Those that got it right were: Samantha Custer, Brian Guenther, Kim Duda, Lisa Hemovich, John O’Donovan, John Krainer, and Jeff Campognone.
This month’s trivia question: How many barrels of crude oil does the United States consume a day? E-mail your answers to Jami in the corporate office at Jami.Mignogna@BrickBodies.com.
Christmas is the giving season. The time to give and receive presents. A typical philosophy is to give in direct proportion to what you receive. If you get a Christmas card from someone, you send a Christmas card to someone. If you get a small gift, you give a small gift. If you get a moderately priced gift, you give a moderately priced gift. If you get an expensive gift, you give a moderately priced gift!!!!! Most people give to their immediate family first and decide who else they can afford to give gifts to, depending on their budget.
I have a novel idea for you this year. Do or give something to someone who can’t possibly pay you back. Second, expect ingratitude. In other words, give for the simple joy of giving, with no strings attached.
Instead of checking your list to see who sent you cards last year or waiting to see who sends you a card this year before you send them a card, why not just go ahead and send anyone a card that you think would enjoy it, regardless of how many people that is. Instead of buying things for your immediate family first, why not all agree that you as a family will get things for friends and relatives first before getting gifts for each other?
Now, of course you will get the mandatory socks, underwear and t-shirts for the family. And if one of your loved ones really wants something that would make his or her holiday, that is a different story. But I am talking about the overkill of getting so many things for each other that you don’t really need or even want. That is where you can take that money and get something for someone who can’t possibly pay you back. Or who may like what you got them but not appreciate or even care that it came from you.
These people would include distant family that may not be as well-off as you. Or family that may not have stayed in touch with you and have not even made any effort to do so. Or even family with whom you have been at odds. Or friends down on their luck. Or the disadvantaged that your church, synagogue or civic group is supporting. Or national charities such as The United Way, or The Salvation Army or Toys for Tots. Or strangers begging on a street corner. Or an orphanage in your community. Or a senior center.
No one expects you to go broke supporting these people and organizations. And no one expects you and your loved ones to go without this Christmas. But we really have become a country of excess. And we really don’t need everything we get for Christmas anymore, do we?
This was not always the case. There was a time in the not too distant past (is the 1960’s really that long ago) when people waited for Christmas to get special gifts, toys or needed clothes. Come to think of it, we waited for a lot more things back then. We waited until after dinner to eat dessert and sweets. And we waited until Saturday to watch college football and Sunday to watch pro football. And we waited until Friday or Saturday night to go out and get a drink and go to the movies. And we waited until the summer to go on vacation. And the list goes on and on. But that is a different story, isn’t it. The point is, for most people, Christmas is no longer the time to get the necessities. We get them all year long.
So why not make Christmas the season of giving again. But giving to people that really need it. Giving in small ways like a card or a smile or a phone call or a special gift or a helping hand or a visit. Giving in big ways like a financial donation to a worthy cause or assistance to a total stranger that really needs it, like someone that has suffered financial hardship or personal tragedy. Or even helping a distant relative with college tuition.
The funny thing about all this is that, as unrealistic as this all sounds, for most of us, when you give something you get a lot more satisfaction than you do when you get something. Abraham Maslow knew this when he developed his Hierarchy of Basic Human Needs. When you are struggling for survival your primary concern is your safety and well-being. But, as begin to become more secure and to mature, you begin to look for more meaningful things in life. You begin to realize that the JOY really is in the giving. That is why so many millionaires give away their fortunes late in life. They understand what Machiavelli meant in The Prince when he said ultimately a person’s GREATNESS is measured in what he contributes to society.
I don’t know about the greatness part but I do know about the joy part. It really is a lot more fun to give than to receive. Don’t you agree?
Merry Christmas/Happy Chanukah everybody!
Yours in Health and Fitness,
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
"No one has ever become poor by giving"
– Anne Frank
(If you do not remember, Anne Frank was a young Jewish Dutch girl who died in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II)
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