The Gift You Can Still Give Yourself

The holidays ask a lot of us.
Not just our time or our energy, but our hearts.
We give and give and give — our attention, our kindness, our thoughtfulness, our effort — often without stopping to ask what we might need in return.

And somewhere in between the wrapping, the cooking, the remembering-everyone-else, something gets lost: us.

But here’s the gentle truth:
The most meaningful gift you can give this season isn’t wrapped in ribbon.
It’s something only you can give yourself.

It’s permission.
Permission to be human.
Permission to rest.
Permission to feel whatever you feel today — joy, tenderness, sadness, sweetness, longing, or all of it at once.

You don’t need to sparkle on command.
You don’t need to hold everything together.
You don’t need to rise to every expectation — spoken or unspoken.

What if, just for today, you let yourself breathe?
What if you gave yourself the gift of lowering the bar you’ve been holding for everyone else?
What if you allowed yourself to receive instead of constantly offering?

Women are extraordinary givers — not because we’re obligated to be, but because it’s who we are.
But being a giver doesn’t mean you must be selfless to the point of disappearing.

Today, offer yourself the same tenderness you offer others.
Wrap yourself in compassion.
Let yourself off the hook for the things you didn’t get to or didn’t get “right.”
Remember that love expands when you are included in it.

The world doesn’t need a perfect version of you.
It needs a present one.
A nourished one.
A woman who knows her worth isn’t measured by how much she accomplishes or how flawlessly she performs the holidays.

Give yourself the gift of being enough, exactly as you are.

And maybe, when you look back on this season, what you’ll remember most isn’t the to-do lists or the expectations—but the quiet moment you decided to treat yourself with softness.

It’s the kind of gift that lasts long after the decorations come down.
The kind your future self will thank you for.

Copyright: Helene Oseen 2025