Christmas is the time of year when we traditionally give gifts and I encourage you to be generous in your giving, but not to the point where you make life hard for yourself.

When I was much younger I had very little money, yet every Christmas I gave presents that I couldn’t afford to buy and it would take me the whole year to pay for them.  This would make my father angry and he would go mad that I shouldn’t spendso much money, then I would get upset and that cycle continued for many years.  I finally learnt that not all giving has to cost us money and some of the presents I have valued the most are ones where people have put thought into them. For instance, my assistant Julie Staples cooked me up a week of meals and froze them at one time so I would have good healthy meals without having to cook over the break.  Every time I ate one of her meals I felt grateful and I still remember and appreciate her thoughtfulness.

You can give your time, you can make something simple.  It really is the thought behind the gift that counts the most.

Also this month while you are focusing on being a generous person find a role model.  My role model for generosity is Ellen de Generes.