It is Christmas morning, and I am taking some time to post an off topic story. I went to church on Christmas Eve, and one part of the service included a short video. One of the members has a son serving in Afghanistan. The son is home for Christmas. Earlier in the year, the church members assembled and sent over a care package, with snack food, toiletries, some small toys, and other items in short supply over there.
The young soldier thanked the congregation for that act of kindness, saying whenever they get a package from home in Afghanistan, "it's like Christmas morning." Surprisingly, the small toys had a great impact. They weren't asked for, after all, these are men getting paid, who can afford many small toys. The soldier was able to re-gift the toys to the children of the village.
Now for the typical middle class American kid, a Hot Wheels car will generate a shrug or be ignored. For a third-world kid, it became a prize, something they have never seen before.
Investors are in the upper half in this country because half the U.S. population does not save money at all. American investors are typically better off than those in other countries. Sure, we as a group would like to have more money. That said, a story about a Hot Wheels car becoming a prized possession serves to give me more perspective.
We have so much to be grateful for, not the least, is having a son, a soldier (not my son, but someone in my church) home for Christmas. I also know that especially for some, giving can be difficult, even sneered at. The need seems so great, making any difference seems so unlikely. There are two points to the story, about being grateful for what we have, and that sometimes the unexpected, even a small gift, can sometimes brighten someone's day, and turn an otherwise ordinary day into Christmas morning.
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