|
“Aloha Holiday Sharing List”
We get Christmas coming jahs around da cornah! Yikes!! Time fo’ run off, like da rest of da 308,159,201 Americans to uphold da Christmas holiday shopping tradition. Ha’kum we do dat?
Well, fo most of us, we like give gifts fo’ let da persons we giving da gift to know dat we stay teenking about dem and we like show dem we love dem too! Gift giving, wit da right motive behind it, is sharing Aloha!
Da action of “GIVING” is “ALOHA”. As long as it’s not one “fruit cake”. Nah, nah, oni joking. No maddah how beeg, or how small da gift is, as long as you GIVE FROM DA HEART, ALOHA is shared too.
You might teenk dat giving is good, especially wen we stay giving and sharing Aloha wit ohana and good friends. Das no surprise! Of course, tutu and tutu kane going get specho’ gifts dis yeeah from da ohana. Da husband going get his T-shirts and bebadeeze and da wife going get stuff fo’ da kitchen (if you like get ignored fo da ress of da year). And da keiki!!! Whoohooo! Dis is their time of da yeeah! But, try think! Who stay missing??? Shouldn’t ALOHA be SHARED and GIVEN to erebody?
Wait, wait, wait. I not telling you go run out to da malls and staht buying gifts fo’ erebody in yo’ neighborhood!! But if you like spread around holiday cheer Aloha Style you can staht out by following da “Practical Aloha Holiday Sharing List”.
I no kid you, wen you staht putting it into practice and staht dishing out Aloha, you going find more of da holiday spirit in your heart to share, and da uddah people around you going “turn on” to it, and get into da Aloha Holiday Spirit too! Try go tess’em out fo yo’self:
- Exchange simple greetings. - If you are constantly friendly wen you meet people wea’eva you go, eventually you going have da opportunity to get to know dem. It doesn’t mean dat you have to tell one stranger your whole life story. But staht off by throwing one simple “hello” first. Den latah, you can talk about da weather, den your ohana, and so on. You’d be surprised how fast you going be talking about da corns on each uddahs toes! Doesn’t take long. But it does take dat initial, “hello”.
- Pass along a compliment. - A lot of times we take fo granted what stay around us. I remember wen I used to live on Oahu, I wen take fo’ granted how beautiful erething was around me. I think we stay ALL guilty of taking stuffs fo’ granted. Eh, you have to admit, we even take our ohana and friends fo granted too, yeah? Not good, dat one! So, we all go STOP taking people fo granted, at least. We all go START noticing da GOOD in uddahs so den we can TELL dem how much we appreciate dem. No sked, tell your neighbor how nice he stay keeping his/her garden. Tell da market clerk she look real good wit dat new hair style. Das one uddah way to share Aloha and make people feel good too!
- Welcome neighbors warmly. - Wen sum’body new stay move to your neighborhood, no sked bring dem cookies, or even mochi. You can even offer to show dem around if dey stay new from one uddah town. People appreciate a friendly handshake wen dey move to sum’place new. Even at work! You might have one new employee move next to your cubicle. Da sharing of a welcoming Aloha greeting applies dea too. No shame, extend dat hand of Aloha! Dat brings me to da next point… Read on.
- Share a meal. – It may be hahd to believe dat get people out dea in da world who is not from da Hawaiian Islands dat stay LOVE EATING as much as we do. Eating is a ‘social’ event and a GREAT way to get to know someone. Invite dat new co-worker out to lunch. If you feel uncomfortable doing a “one on one” meeting, grab a bunch of you guys and go. Sharing aloha is sharing a meal.
- Meet obvious needs. – Sum’times da best way to meet someone and get da ball rolling in getting to know dem is to be sensitive to a “need” dat dey may have. Simple needs can be obvious. Like if a neighbor was expecting a baby. Would be great if you could donate a batch of diapers to await the newborn’s arrival. Fall and early winter means that LEAVES have fallen and are laying all over da creation. Why not offer a hand to bag those leaves? I bet there’s a zillion things you could think up to do to help your neighbor. Aloha is kokua (help) too!
There are uka (plenty) ways to share ALOHA wit uddahs to bring on and enjoy da Holidays in a deeper sense. I wen jahs suggest 5 ways. I believe everybody likes to be appreciated and cared for. We get great opportunities to express Aloha to erebody around us. We no have to be in Hawaii to do dis. Da people you share Aloha wit can be someone you don’t even know. But more den likely, aftah you share Aloha wit ‘em, you will know dem. We jahs have to be WILLING to take the first steps and hopefully this simple, but practical suggestion will help you get stahted.
|
