Primary Gifts

Well, Christmas is a week away and I've learned that the primary gifts of living are loving, forgiving, and letting stuff go. Some might wonder why I would include these thoughts in a blog about being frugal but the challenge of these three threads are core to a free life with less emotional baggage/stuff. The more I learn to love difficult people, (cause it is always easy to love those who love you back), the less time and wasted energy I spend trying to make them live up to my so-called standards in my mind. When I accept folks for who they are, I am free to let them be as God intended within the core of their personalities. I choose to not comment on how they should live as long as their choices aren't severely choking out how I have chosen to live my life. Loving one another produces an exhilarating life with unexpected twists and turns!

When I forgive, I am depending on God's power because I know I don't have it in me to do this on my own. I am reminded of just how dependent I am on someone greater than me to maintain peace within me and all around me. Forgiving does more for the forgiver than the one being forgiven: It totally frees you to move on in your life and pursue your greatest potential in relating well with new people who appear before you. When I choose to hold a grudge, I am giving away my power, my future, and possibly my physical/mental health. (Some studies connect an unwillingness to forgive to poor physical/mental health.)

Finally, letting stuff go symbolically represents frugality: Whatever you don't need should be eliminated to increase efficiency. When I let go of past hurts and injustices, I can freely create a meaningful life in the moment which I hope will in turn produce tantalizing memories later in my life or even next month or next year. I have control over how I want to remember today by how I choose to relate to others right now. Life moves so quickly so I decided a while ago that it was easier to flow with life and let stuff go instead of holding on to the past and drowning. Freedom!