To Give or Not To Give - Are You Struggling with that, right now, too?

Man, oh, man, I'm really struggling with whether to give, or not to give, to certain people, and, frankly, to certain causes, this year, and, with 8 days left before Christmas, I'm really struggling with the whole 'should I give a gift to this person, or do I let them off the list, this year? It's a hard time of year. It's supposed to be such a joyous time of year, and sometimes it is (although, I can't really think of a Christmas, as an adult, where emotions didn't run high, stress from family (well, mostly extended family - you know, the whole in-law/outlaw thing... Thank Goodness that's a thing of the past for me, now, but, man, that used to be sooo painful at the holidays, since you can pretty much avoid those difficult people all the rest of the year, but a big holiday like Christmas comes around, and then you have to deal with them.... is very tricky for a lot of people.... I might hazard a guess that it's very tricky for the vast majority of the people... am I right? Do other people stress out about Christmas Day like I do, and have done in the past?

I was listening to the radio, this morning, and they were talking about some poor girl who was just dumped by her boyfriend two weeks ago, on Facebook, for God's Sake (a loser! lol!) right before Christmas, and she didn't know whether to still give him his gifts. Oh, no! Poor girl! I feel for her, because she clearly still holds a torch for him, the break up just happened, and what if he's one of those losers (well, we've already established that he's a loser for breaking up with her over Facebook, right? hahaha!) (Noo, I shouldn't laugh - what if she's the jerk?? I didn't used to think there were any bad girls, but now my eyes have been a'opened, and there are sooo many very bad girls out there - iz shocking! I'd break up with them, too, but I'm getting really good at recognizing 'Crazy' way faster than I used to! hahaha!)

Anyway, so how do you make that final decision on whether to give someone a gift when you are seriously on the fence about whether they deserve a gift from you, or not? Do you spend your hard-earned money on someone you don't know is going to appreciate your gift? What if they don't say thank you? Is that a make or break it thing for you? (Now, really, how is it that one human being can receive a gift, and NOT say Thank you?? Bleh! Those are not good human beings!) (I see that I have a lot of little 'asides' in here! hahaha! extra little thoughts I just feel like throwing in!)

I was on Amazon, the other night (and I love the drone shipping thing, by the way - can you imagine a zillion little drones, like insects - should totally work, no problemo!)(New catch phrase of 2020 - 'Watch out!'), and there are some seriously good prices on there, but, still, even with the good prices (dammit, the things I'm looking at are a terrible price... dammit, note to self: Develop cheaper tastes! hahahaha!), I just can't decide whether to send another gift, or not. Not, I guess.

I think my bottom line on this is if I'm that much on the fence about sending something, is it still in the spirit of giving, or have we moved into another territory? lol!  Hmmm.... oh, and the cause I'm concerned about supporting, this year, is The Salvation Army. I've always, always supported the Salvation Army in the past, and I have info on my blog for how my lovely readers (that's you! lol!) can give through text messages, since thats my fave way to communicate, even when I'm donating! lol! But here's the thing - have you seen the posts on Facebook about the Salvation Army not supporting the LGBT community? Now that's a very serious problem for me. That is not okay. I've read some stuff about it, but here's what's tricky for me - it was my understanding that the Salvation Army doesn't turn anyone away - is that not true? I like that they support families in need, but I thought they were very active in helping people who are homeless, regardless of the reason, and I thought they were there to help anyone. Well, I think I'll still text in my support, for this year, and do more research. If they do have an issue, they need to step it up and help everyone - this is the problem with so many churches, being exclusionary - yeah, pretty sure that's not what God wants.....I think he loves EVERYONE, right?? Is this my Christmas message? hahahaha! All cheery, 'n all?? hahaha! Sorry! It how I feelin', today! I'll prolly just send the gift, then I don't have to think about it, any more (right, if only I could do something quickly, and without thought - wouldn't my life be so different?? hahahaha!).

Okay, Merry Christmas, and all that!  I'll link my other articles to this page, in case you need some more help and understanding during the Holidays! lol!  And I DO hope you have a wonderful Holiday, and, like the Latin's used to say, Illigitimus Non Tatum Carborundum - don't let the bastards get you down! Is the only Latin I really retained - wonder why?? hahaha!  Cheers!! Ailsa xox 

Text Donations - it's always nice to help at Christmas, and especially if it's super fast and easy (is the truth!)...
http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2012/11/text-donations-how-can-we-get-more.html

How to Get along with Difficult People - maybe your in-laws, or is it your very own family, too?? Just random people annoying you, right now??hahaha! If you laugh a little bit, it might help you have an easier time, and you can always make those horrible times into funny stories for your friends, later, right? It'll be fun - and you might want to go ahead and buy that new Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka, after all... it might help you make up those stories while you're in the midst of some Crazy over the holidays! lol! http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2010/11/how-to-get-along-with-difficult-people.html

Hey, find someone better! Or, how about someone with a better family (that used to be my big dream! hahaha!) http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2010/11/how-to-marry-rich-or-find-rich-guy.html

My Favorite Recipes - they're all tried and true, I make them all the time - I figure, make something delicious, at least you'll have great food, right? And then do your very best to eliminate, or minimize, all those difficult people and difficult choices, from your life - make your life all lovely and normal - you'll love the peace of it all! lol! http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2011/11/thanksgiving-recipes-easy-and-delicious.html