When you gather for the presents, don’t forget your presence.
When you gather with your family this Christmas and experience the joy and the pain … those who loved you and those who wounded you and still do, those who hurt you and those who healed you and still do, those who gave you hope and snuffed out your dreams and still do, those who picked you up and those who let you down and still do, those who kept promises and those who broke promises and still do, those who make you laugh and those who make you cry, those who comfort you and those who disturb you … when you see those human faces … joyous, angry, sad, bitter, broken, happy, hopeful, lost … the young, the strong, the old, the weak … remember that you will be all of these things one day … and keeps these words of Mother Teresa in your heart: “There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives - the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.”

Long periods of prayer in solitude occupied much of Mother Teresa’s time before she went to visit her Home for the Dying in Calcutta.

Before you gather with friends and family, remember Mother Teresa’s words: “Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart . . . ” … and give what you give with your heart, for we are all in the Home for the Dying.

Pause for a moment … and then go forward in love.

From Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self- centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of having selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous; be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do it anywyay.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; tt never was between you and them . . . anyway.

Have a blessed Christmas. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start learning the powerful emotional intelligence concepts in this article today. Take the Emotional Intelligence Internet course.

About the Author

Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, GLOBAL EQ. Emotional intelligence coaching to enhance all areas of your life - career, relationships, midlife transition, resilience, self-esteem, parenting. EQ Alive! - excellent, accelerated, affordable EQ coach certification. Susan is the author of numerous ebooks, is widely published on the Internet, and a regular speaker for cruise lines. For marketing services go here.

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Headphones to grant me some private space . . . tickets to some far-off exotic place . . .
What do you want for Christmas?

Clothing to dress me to paint the town red . . . silk sheets to wrap me when I go to bed . . .
What do you want for Christmas?

Harry Potters a good one . . . the kids will go wild . . . And I love him too, cause Im really a child . . .
What do you want for Christmas?

Theres camera equipment, thats sure to appeal . . . theres software galore at really good deals . . .
What do you want for Christmas?

I look in my closets, I look at my house, theres nothing I need, . . . no, not even a mouse . . .
What do you want for Christmas?

Would it matter, I wonder, if there under the tree, was a wee tiny package all wrapped up for me, and when opened, twas empty, no present Id see . . . just a feeling of peace and . . . serenity.
What do you want for Christmas?

And maybe compassion, wrapped up with a bow, a gentle enfolding so really Id know what could and what couldnt, what is and what aint. Just some understanding. (I wont be a saint.)
What do you want for Christmas?

Its asking too much, now, to ask for world peace, but on my list its up there, that wars may soon cease. And justice, for children, that all may be fed, and wanted, and cuddled and tucked into bed.
What do you want for Christmas?

The economy needs us, or so weve been told . . . spending our dollars in purchases bold . . . but still, in the silence of this holy night, I know what I want most is not sold with bright lights. What I deeply need is to set aside fear, to let myself reach out in this coming year . . . to know with my heart the whole world as my kin . . . that Love may be born, and Peace may begin.
What do you want for Christmas?

Maureen Killoran

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