The Best Gift — Time

What is the best gift anyone could ever receive?  It’s something no one on earth will ever get more of.  It has the power to create memories that will last forever.  It is the gift of time.

As a professional organizer I help people clear the clutter out of their lives.  Much of it is gifts that well-meaning people have given them, gifts that over time have become clutter in their lives.  The one thing that people will never let go of is photographs.  Pictures are about time spent making memories with loved ones.

This holiday season instead of giving more stuff, give the gift of your time.

If you have children, instead of toys that create clutter, make regular play dates with them.  Put them on your calendar and honor them just as you do your other commitments.  Your children will not remember that you bought a game, but they will remember that you played it with them.  If your children are older try to do the things they like.  Don’t spend money buying future clutter.  Spend time making memories.

If older family members or friends can’t get around easily make a date to take them to the places they like to go.  If keeping track of bills is starting to get more difficult; help them with it on a regular basis, so they don’t have to worry.  Do they need help to get things organized for taxes?  Spend some time helping them with that.  Fix the leaky sink or call a reliable plumber.  And if you can, be there when the plumber arrives.  Older people get taken advantage of all the time.

Make this not just a short season of giving but a lifestyle of giving your most precious gift to the ones you love—your time.

Copyright^© 2019 Elizabeth Tawney Gross, Organizing For Everyday, LLC