During these challenging economic times, everyone of us faces various types of stress. Most of us are changing our lifestyles to survive. How about those who are less fortunate? How about those who live on the street?

It is a well-known fact that during the holiday season, stress levels climb. This can be due to financial challenges, illness, or maybe a broken relationship. There is not one of us who is immune to stress during the holidays. Instead of happiness, we feel melancholic. Instead of feeling positive, we may be depressed. If you notice, there is one common thread throughout these types of emotions (I am guilty of this too)…the stress is created by ourselves. It is a “me” centered attitude. Instead of thinking how we can best celebrate the Christmas season by helping others and giving of ourselves, we tend to get wrapped up in our own worlds…our own stress.

Think about this thought. We have well over 300 million people in the United States. What if each person donated $1.00? Just a dollar. Think about what that could do for the “less fortunate” people…how we could help them. How we could give them a great Christmas. What if each of us gave $5.00? That would be $1.5 billion. Most of us spend ten dollars at Starbucks in one day. What if 50 million people went out and served meals to the poor and needy on Christmas? We would make an astounding statement to the whole world. I have found from personal experience that when you give to the less fortunate, your own problems become quite small. You become the biggest winner.

It would be interesting to see what would happen to our economy if we helped the less fortunate in this manner. You might be surprised. It is an empowering concept to ponder!