The Best Gift Ever!

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving with plenty of great food and fellowship with friends and family. Most of you were probably like me and spent too much time cleaning up from the effects of our midwest winter storm. There’s nothing better than spending hours moving snow and then having it continue to fall and needing to move more snow….but I digress!

One of the things I thought about while working was the fact we are only 4 weeks away from Christmas—the holiday season is upon us. The next several weeks will be filled with full schedules (I start my basketball season with 9 games in 3 weeks!), crowded stores bumper to bumper traffic, and counting down to upcoming gatherings and celebrations. It’s exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. And if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves rushing from one thing to the next, missing the very moments that make this time of year special.

At this time of the year, it’s easy to get caught up in social media posts and feel like there are so many people out there who have it better than us which makes us try to do things to keep up with what others do. This could include shopping for gifts that may be out of our budget, believing we need to decorate our houses differently than what we usually do, or find other ways to feel inadequate.

But what if we made a different choice this year?

What if instead of getting caught up in all the noise…
we focused on the things and people that really matter?

It’s easy to let the holidays become a checklist—decorating the house, planning meals, finding gifts, and trying to be everywhere at once. But no one is going to remember how perfectly decorated the tree was or whether the table settings matched.

What they will remember is how you made them feel.

It may start with asking someone a question and moving into a longer conversation. Maybe it is a moment of shared laughter because of a story told. When we take away the distractions and focus on the present and the people we are with, we get back to the heart of the holidays—connection.

There’s a reason people light up when you truly listen to them: being seen and heard is one of the most powerful gifts we can give. This is the gift of attention. Giving your full attention to others and not getting distracted by social media, your phones, your job, or anything else is better than almost any wrapped present you may give.

Last week, my coaches and I held individual meetings with each player to just check in on how they were doing, how their season was going, and what they needed from us in order to continue having a successful year. These were amazing conversations and although time consuming, gave us a chance to connect with each player and let them know how much we cared and that our team is about more than just basketball. I challenge you to have similar conversations with those peope that matter to you!

Whether it’s a phone-free dinner, a personal note, a coffee or lunch with an old friend, or spending time with someone who might need a little extra joy right now—these are the real gifts of the season.

I hope this holiday season, you will consider asking yourself: who needs my time, my listening, or my presence? And then… give that gift generously! The gift of time is free!

My basketball team’s community service project this month is connecting with a resident at a local nursing home. The residents love watching basketball and should provide some great perspective for our players. As someone who’s mom is in a nursing home and sometimes goes stretches without outside communication, I know our gift of time will do wonders for all of the residents!

As we move closer to the holidays and your days get hectic and stressful because of all the things you need to do, may you keep your eyes on the things that truly last: relationships, gratitude, faith, connection, and love. If we focus there, the season will take care of itself and the material things and what others have, will become less and less important.

Here’s to fully showing up… and making this season one to remember. Have a great week!

Coach K