Awakened Gift Giving

Today I am writing from Istanbul:

For many people around the world this is a time for planning the gatherings of families and friends. A lot of this energy is focused around the Christmas time celebrations.
The irony is that we often allow ourselves to get so stressed out over the details that the point of this time all gets lost in the mail.
Exchanging gifts has long been established as a custom for the Christmas time. Every news broadcast is talking about the spending reports of shoppers each day and forecasting the season like a sporting match that we must win by spending more. The message is to spend lots and save the economy. – ouch!

Here are a couple of other ways to go rather than getting caught up in the consumer game.
Donate money to a charity that represents something you believe in and then give out cards to the the people on whose behapf you did that for instead of gifts.
Here are a couple of possibilities:
Red Cross – Always doing good work out there
World Vison – Look for the gift catalogue and give a goat or a well for water.
US Campaign for burma - http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/ needs your support

Let your gift dollars create important social change on the planet.

Be well