Late Christmas gift ideas

This is the time of year that brings panic to the hearts of many, especially men, because we've postponed and procrastinated buying our Christmas presents until we can't wait any longer. I have some ideas that are unconventional and won't warm the hearts of everyone that reads this but in terms of the true spirit of giving, it's the most rewarding.

We grow up as either givers or takers and at some level, we all know this. In talking about relationships to my former students, I always said the key to a happy relationship was to give rather than expect the other person to give because you control your own behavior and you don't control theirs. And, if the other person is a decent sort, he or she will reciprocate because of the gift or gifts you gave them. So, instead of sitting around with your arms folded waiting on someone to give you what YOU want, give them what they want first and you'll likely get what you wanted to. If you don't, you're in a relationship with a taker who's ALWAYS going to be a taker and you need to run, not walk, to the nearest door and get the heck out of there because they're never going to change.

I've always been a giver because that's the way I was raised. After my family exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, we would all pile in the car and go around town distributing more gifts to those families we knew didn't have enough money to buy their own. The smiles and the looks of absolute gratitude on their faces gave me a warm feeling in my heart that's never gone away. That's why businesses like Old Sarge's bar is a credit to this community, regardless of what their public perception is, because they start a fundraiser a month before Christmas and deliver gifts to the needy a few days before Christmas like my family used to do.

But the late Christmas gifts I'm referring to in this column are not tangible in the true sense of the word because I'm referring to a favorite charity of yours that always needs your gift of money to continue their good deeds. We have several in the local area and hundreds more at the national level that are always trying to raise more money because they can't get it anywhere else.

If you don't have a favorite charity, I suggest you go to charitynavigator.org to find the kind of charitable organization that gives you the biggest bang for your buck in terms of using most of the money donated to it in actual service rather than administrative costs. Individual charities aren't listed but kinds of charities are. For example, in terms of fundraising efficiency, the very best charities to donate to are Community foundations, food banks, food pantries, food distribution, and humanitarian relief supplies.

I have several different charities I donate to each year but one stands head and shoulders above the others because I donate to them monthly instead of annually and that's St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Jude's specializes in chronic childhood illnesses and the services they provide come at no cost to the family. The only way they can continue this tradition is through the financial support of people who were blessed enough to have healthy children and the support of families who had children receive free care from them. One of the great puzzles of existence is why so many young, innocent people contract life-threatening illnesses at such a young age and why one out of five die from them. We don't have the answer to that question and likely never will but we can help to save more children by contributing to those medical institutions who are providing free medical care to families in need.

That's my personal cause because we were fortunate enough to raise three healthy boys and I want to do my part to ensure that even those children that contract life-threatening health issues have the best chance to survive and live long, happy, healthy lives.

Whatever your cause or concern is, Christmas is the very best time to give, either for yourself or someone else because it teaches us to be other-directed instead of inner directed and that, along with the help we're offering to others has no downside.

Merry Christmas Everyone!