Nirvana During the Holidays

-by Matt Leedham

For some people, the holidays are filled with gifts and surprises, yummy treats to enjoy, and lots of love and connection with friends and family. For others, it’s crowded airports, last-minute trips to the shopping mall, arguments with siblings, and traffic on the highway.

For most of us, it’s a combination of all those things.

No matter where you fall on the spectrum, you will likely need to take some time and relax, refocus, and re-energize. Try not to let the stress of the holidays interrupt your ability to give and receive with the ones you love.

As my family and I celebrate Christmas this year, I will keep this little cartoon handy, and thought you might want to as well. Merry Christmas!

This was posted on YogaDawg’s Facebook page,
but I’m not sure who the original credit belongs to.

Giving is Receiving

-by Jaime Willis

I am pretty excited for the holidays this year. Both of my nephews are old enough to get into the spirit and it will be fun visiting with all of my family. Although I wasn't able to make it to my mom's family Christmas this past weekend, I skyped in and talked to almost everyone! Technology really is awesome!

I've flummoxed my family a bit this year by gently refusing to give a Christmas list. The older I get, the less exciting it is to GET gifts and the more exciting it is to GIVE gifts. Is this true for anyone else?

I feel so blessed this year -- a raise at work, meeting great new friends through coach training and Camp Mighty, and lots of new experiences & fun. Asking for more seems downright selfish. This year, I asked my family to consider spending the money they would have spent on me helping someone else in need.

For my part, I'm trying to find new and interesting ways to give back this year. (I'm not going to go into more detail because the purpose of giving, for me, is not about getting accolades for giving, but the giving itself).

It is so amazing how incredibly generous people are this time of year. Read some of these tear-jerker stories of giving and consider what you can do to help someone else this season!

Secret Santas paying off layaway bills at Kmart...inspire others to do the same.

Reddit users raised more than $31,000 in under 12 hours to help 3 year old needing bone-marrow transplant.

Strangers band together to help a man and his dog.


If you need a little help this holiday season, please let us know in the comments, on our facebook page, or via email (jaime AT velocitygoals.com).