RECIPE FOR SUCCESS:

We all have personal truths based on our perceptions of the world around us. These truths change throughout our lifetime. It seems the truth about the holiday season is it’s all about retail, or is it?

When I was a child, Christmas was all about toys. I’d eagerly wait for Christmas morning so I could tear through a sea of wrapping paper and discover what Santa had brought. I hated having to leave my toys to go to my relative’s house for Christmas dinner. The truth about the pure meaning of Christmas was lost on my young perception. Christmas was about getting good stuff to play with.

As I matured into a young adult, my Christmas lists no longer included toys, but practical items that I needed for my first apartment and car, and clothing. I learned to budget, think of family and friends and begin the never-ending search for the perfect presents each year. Holiday shopping that once was fun became a battle with traffic and crowded malls. The Ho Ho became Ho Hum. Stretched financially and for time, the holidays equal stress for most folks.

But as we reach mid-life and have families of our own, our truth about holiday giving changes once again. We recapture our childhoods through our children. Our gift is seeing the wonder and joy in their faces as they open their presents. All the hassle of shopping is worthwhile in those fleeting moments.

At 51, my truth about Christmas has changed once again, as I’m sure it does for many at my age. I realize this will be my first Christmas without my best friend, who passed away this year. I stop and think who in my close circle will not be with me next year and want to hit the pause button to slow down life.

John Crean used to joke that from 65 years old to 70 was about 15 minutes.

As I gaze at the lights in the Christmas Boat Parade this year, I wonder who in the crowd is seeing them for the first time and who’ll be seeing them for the last. I breathe in the cold night air, and I’m grateful for the gifts God has given me.

The holidays are about the love you hold in your heart for those around you. Cherish and savor that love, for too quickly these moments become nothing more than archived memories.

This year when my family and friends asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I asked them to make a donation and join a support guild I created this past year for AIDS Services Foundation OC, “The Friends of Dorothy.” My Christmas wish is to see the good work we started continue to grow and flourish helping those in need. The truth is it’s our good works spreading like ripples on a pond that define our existence and humanity.

As the holiday lights flicker, surround yourself with those you love and find that attitude of gratitude deep in your heart. Be grateful for what you have, not resentful for what you don’t, for this is the true recipe for success for the holidays.

BARBARA VENEZIA is the chairman of the Santa Ana Hts. Redevelopment Project Advisor Committee and was the co-creator of the cooking show “At Home on the Range” with John Crean. She would like to invite her readers to join The Friends of Dorothy by visiting www.hotrange.com.