The data lines to credit card companies are humming to the tune of more than $28 billion in Canadian retail sales in December.
Shoppers wearied from all that pre- and post-Christmas spending fill the food courts and benches.
But in our frantic pursuit of Christmas gifts and Boxing Week bargains, it is easy to overlook something that won’t strain the budget
Our time.
Each of us has an annual time account of 8,760 hours. That’s more than half a million minutes.
While a certain amount of that time must be alloted to sleeping, eating and earning a living, there’s still plenty to spare.
Time to spend with family and friends.
Time to help out in the community, volunteering with organizations that bring comfort and assistance to those in need or less fortunate.
Time to lend a hand on the sidelines and benches of kids sports teams, teaching young people valuable lessons of camaraderie and sportsmanship.
Time to lead a troop of scouts or girl guides. Time to cook a meal or weed the garden for a lonely senior.
Time to give a shelter dog a respite from its cage with a noon hour walk or to help the staff with cleaning and feeding the animals.
Time to make the world a cleaner place by helping to clean a ravine or count salmon swimming upstream to spawn.
Time to open a door for someone whose arms are laden with parcels.
The gift of time is, well, timeless. It doesn’t require batteries or complicated instructions.
Perhaps we can all keep that thought in the forefront as we enjoy the holiday season.
– Black Press