2015’s Holiday Season: The World is Not Ours for the Taking

Brought to you by Not Our Oyster, a division of Book-In-A-Drawer Publications.  Copyright 2015:  All rights reserved.

It’s the season for celebrating gifts, which is not at all the same as taking. Yep, giving a gift is difficult without acceptance, but gifts can be all around regardless of any acceptance. However, taking the gifts life has to offer can be a bit egoic—and then the issue of ownership arises—as in finders-keepers.

Make no mistake; ownership is not just about tangibles like who owns the resources. For instance, who owns morality, ethics or truth? Who owns love, beauty, or awareness?

There are some things that cannot be taken even though they’re offered. There are some things that cannot be taken even if we find them—as in just because we find them doesn’t mean they’re really offered. There are some things that are just ours and don’t have to be taken, they are just givens.

Yes, we apparently have leeway to make arrangements of the givens. That is also a major gift.

For this season and beyond, may all of us (okay, at least a critical mass of us) delight in making our arrangements, ensure we’re not trespassing in the process, accept the gift of our stewardship (including the stewardship of our awareness, which may have to be returned, which should delight those who love to return stuff), and acknowledge and appreciate the givens. The world may not be ours for the taking, but it is ours to love, to work and play in, and to watch out for.