What Will You Give Yourself For The Holidays?
Don't wait for someone else to give you the perfect gift
December includes many holidays, and one way we celebrate them is to give gifts. Whether or not you receive gifts from others, I encourage you to give yourself a holiday gift. You know better than anyone else what you truly want. Maybe it’s a specific item, like a book by your favorite author or a new journal. Maybe it’s an experience, like a spa treatment or a hot air balloon ride. Maybe it’s an art or cooking class. Maybe it’s someone to clean your house or take care of your yard.
Maybe your gift to yourself will be less tangible. Your greatest wish may be to forgive yourself for a past action you now regret. You may want to make decisions based on your preferences instead of others’ expectations. You may want to set a new boundary with someone.
These are a few gift ideas that came to mind as I considered various possibilities. Maybe you will choose to give yourself one of these gifts, or maybe you will think of a better one. Trust yourself to know the gift that is perfect for you!
I was inspired to write about giving ourselves gifts by
, who writes a newsletter I love called “Your Five-Year Plan.”She invited me to answer two questions:
What’s the best gift you gave your present self in 2023?
What’s the best gift you gave your future self in 2023?
The first one was a no-brainer; regular readers can probably guess that the best gift I gave my present self was a Bruce Springsteen concert.
The second question required more thought. I finally decided that the best gift I gave my future self was a website, https://mymentalhealthguide.com. The site currently offers 1:1 mental health guide services via phone or email, and I plan to add other products and services in the future.
Now it’s your turn. What gift did you or will you give yourself? Comment below to let me know!
P.S. If you want to give yourself a gift that keeps on giving, an annual subscription to “Changing Lives” is now only $35! Paid subscribers get new posts every Friday instead of only once a month, exclusive discounts on my 1:1 mental health guide services and all mental health-related products and services I offer in the future, and private chat threads.
What holiday gift did you or will you give yourself?
In 2023 I gave my present self the permission to disengage from social media. It has definitely brought a change in my life.
The gift to my future self was the setting up of this Substack - a place to work out my writing, to develop the way I express myself, and to meet like-minded people interested in reading and writing.