Lifetree News
Creating Prosperity with Harmony
Alice G. Vlietstra, Ph.D.
November 2011

Creative Holiday Gifts

In this Issue:

1.  Welcome
2.  Discover your Creative Source
3.  Creating Appreciations
4.  Creative Giving

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1.  Welcome

The holiday season is a time for giving, sharing, and celebrating.  It can bring much joy and also a lot of stress.  We get caught up in the activities of the season with gifts to buy, food to eat, and the challenges that can pop up in our relationships.  In this newsletter, I would like to share one the best ways to maintain your holiday joy:  Giving and receiving appreciation.

2. Discover Your Creative Source

So many times when we approach giving and receiving, we see ourselves as consumers, coming from old default patterns of the past.  In our unconscious ways of thinking, we often believe that happiness lays buying or getting the perfect gift.  When I was younger, I thought other people had the love and approval which they had to give to me.  It did not work.  Often they did not get it right, and if I was trying to create the ideal gift for a loved one, I often got it wrong.  It was much better to get feedback.

Even more important than material gifts are what the gifts means to us.  We want to express a grateful heart and love.  There are many ways you can share with the loved ones in your life.  This year, consider a creative approach.

Start with appreciation of yourself and others.  It brings in the Goodness of Life, the real creator source.  The good news is that you do not have to wait for a holiday to enjoy the gifts of appreciation in your life; you can discover them every day.  When you do, it brings much happiness.  Here are two tips to get your started:

3. Creating Appreciations

First take a half hour out of your busy schedule to reflect.  Then think of the important people with whom you would like to share your gifts and love and generate a list of three or four things you appreciate about them.  Giving appreciations builds your relationships and helps them see their strengths.  Next, generate a list of three or four things you appreciate about the world in general.  It will increase your appreciation of life.  Most important, and sometimes the most difficult, is to appreciate yourself. Write down three or four things you appreciate about yourself.   Often these relate to your character strengths and are the things you like to express and do.   Others do not always guess what we enjoy; they need us to them know. Then make a plan for delivering your appreciations.

When delivering your appreciations, be creative by considering how a person might best want to receive them.  Gary Chapman, in his classic book, “The Five Languages of Love” identified five ways through which people share their care and good will.  Their love language is their primary way of expressing and interpreting love. Here are the five love languages: 

Acts of Service,
Quality Time,
Words of Encouragement,
Receiving physical gifts,
Physical touch.

The languages of love can help you discover ways of sharing holiday cheer that are special and unique for each person.  Moreover, once you identify their love language, you can continue to build on them throughout the year.  Watch your loved ones. See if you can determine the languages that resonate most with them.  Then give your appreciations using that language. 

4. Creative Giving

Over the last few years we have seen the fallacy of an economy that places its primary emphasis on materialism. It has not always served us.  In the study of happiness and well being, getting more stuff has only a transient effect on our well-being.  After the novelty of material items wears off, real happiness and well being comes from expressing appreciation, engaging our most prized and individual talents, and from a sense of community.

Come join us for a teleconference on December 13 to share and receive more ideas on creative giving.  I will be sharing more on giving and receiving appreciation and the five love languages.  The give and take of this sharing is great for finding ways to give that are deeply meaningful and give us joy.  Join us on Tuesday, December 13, from 9:00-9:30 AM, CDT.  The telephone number is on the sidebar.

Have a Joyous Holiday Season,

Dr. Alice