During the holiday time, we get so many different messages about Christmas. According to Lexus, everybody should have a beautiful car with a big bow in the driveway. Zales wants you to buy a diamond pendant. Your kids are going to be screaming, wanting so many different toys.
For those of you that are single and are dating somebody -- you're going to be stressing about what to buy them, how big of a gift, how much you should spend. Maybe you've been in a relationship a long time, and when you shop for a Christmas gift for them, you realize you don't really feel like getting it. What is that telling you?
There are many different stages of Christmas in our mind set.
One time, I was in this relationship I knew was coming to an end. We both did. I remember going Christmas shopping and thinking, "Why are we still in this relationship"? Yet we both bought each other presents, pretending we had a future together.
Christmas brings up many different emotions, we have many different feelings around it. It triggers a lot of emotions. The real meaning of Christmas is to give. I want to share with you something that happened to me yesterday. My daughter and I were at the Santa Monica Mall. It's a big, giant outdoor mall, and it's really pretty.
We went up there to play and get some frozen yogurt. We originally sat down in this one seat, but my daughter didn't like it because there were four homeless kids sitting near us.
So, she said "Daddy, can we please sit somewhere else."
So, we sat a little further away. But I was watching the way they were interacting. One of them seemed to be the leader of the group. A little later in the day, my daughter and I decided to come back and sit there again. We got a chocolate chip muffin.
We realized we lost her little panda bear and started looking for it. For some reason, my daughter and I always lose things when we're together. We sat down and the one guy that was the leader was now by himself. My daughter wasn't afraid to sit near him anymore. We found her panda bear sitting right near him.
So, this guy looks at us and says, "I guess it was Saint Nick or one of the elves that brought it". And he smiled.
I felt him and I felt his energy. So I started talking to him. He came over and sat down with us. He looked at me and said, "Man, it's been rough." And he started explaining his situation.
He came out here looking for the California dream.
He saw it on TV and it drew him here. He was 20. He had some money in his pocket. He was going to get a job here. He moved in with his grandmother. He learned that everything was so expensive. The money started running out. He started getting a little into drugs and his grandmother kicked him out.
So now he's homeless. He was sitting there all day long just watching videos on his cell phone. He was a nice kid. I started talking to him a little bit more and my daughter and I were playing. He kept saying, "She reminds so much of my niece."
He looked at me and said "I hate asking this, but do you have anything you can give me for food."
I had $50's and a $5 in my pocket. I almost gave him a $50 but I was afraid that he was going to use it just for drugs. So I figured five would give him less of an option. I gave him $5 and talked to him a little bit more, wished him a merry Christmas.
I realized the true meaning of Christmas is to help the people that really need it. He needed somebody to believe in him again. He needed somebody to connect with. His time with adults has been pretty rough, you can see it.
I knew he needed a boost. He needed somebody to believe in him. We talked a little bit more. It was hard to really talk at length because my daughter was there and she's young. She wanted my attention and I didn't really have a chance to talk to him. But I wanted to as much as I possibly could. I wanted to give him a little advice, give him a little bit of money.
That's the true meaning of Christmas.
It's finding somebody who really needs help and giving it to them. Whether it's wisdom, advice, a meal, a hotel room, clothing, whatever.
Try to find the real meaning of Christmas this year. Go home and look in your closet. Look at all the things you have, things you can share or give away. Is there someone you can give to and make their Christmas amazing?
It's not the 8 million gifts my daughter is going to get. Or the money I give the people who do things for me as a bonus. There are a lot of people that need a little love, a little attention, and a little of your inner wisdom. You can change someone's life.
That's what Christmas is all about.