Giving away what we have received is how we keep it. . .

This simple aphorism is a bit of shorthand for living the good life.  And I have been given the good life and my intent is to give away what I have learned from the many who are wiser than me.

Among those things I want to give away at this gift-giving time is the suggestion that you, that all of us, slow down a bit and enjoy the simple pleasures that surround us.  Every person on your path today, and every day, embodies one of those “moments of pleasure,” if you choose to describe him or her that way.  They have not arrived by accident.  They are part of the divine play that has been orchestrated for you.

Every time I dwell on this idea, it thrills me.  No one is extraneous to my journey.  Nor your journey either.  Isn’t that an amazing realization?  And because he or she has “arrived,” it must mean you have something to offer.  Or to receive.  It could be one or the other.  Or both.

Giving to all the others who pass our way a greeting and a silent prayer is certainly how we keep our serenity.  When was the last time you felt out of sorts?  Had you tried this method for “treating it,” your mood would have changed.  I guarantee it.

Acknowledging the interconnectedness of the human community, every member of it, is another way of feeling joined and whole rather than separate, isolated and afraid.  Too many of us live in a state of fear.  See who you can bring “into the circle” today.  We all heal as one of us heals.  We all grow as one of us grows.  We all come to know serenity every time we hold out the prayer for serenity for another fellow-traveler.  Let’s make this gift-giving time truly special for someone else today.  He or she didn’t show up “uninvited.”