What Joyful Thing. . . I did something today that was really a lot of fun . . . I went shopping with my wife. I really dislike shopping but this was different.

We didn’t shop for ourselves or for members of our family, but for someone we don’t even know, more specifically, some needy kids somewhere in the valley.

Tonight is our business Christmas party and the marines are coming from our local marine base to collect for their Toys for Tots program. This year, we wanted to have a really nice selection of toys to give to the program. So we made a date to go shopping and what a surprise. We had fun!

What a joy that little shopping spree became. Everyone at the store where we shopped seemed to be filled with the spirit of Christmas. We had a huge assortment of gifts filling two shopping carts. There was Sponge Bob – my wife’s secret soul mate. There were a half a dozen Teddy bears, several friction car sets – no batteries required, Play Doh, and cute little dolls of all colors and more. We just had a ball shopping for each one of them.

The take away message is a familiar one. In these tough times, there are always people worse off than you and I are. So don’t forget them this time of year. If you are obsessing about how bad things are, take a break and go by a small gift for a needy kid. You will feel a whole lot better.