Christmas in America ends abruptly. The day after Christmas the holly jolly, heartwarming music is off the air waves and Santa has left the building. No more 12 days of Christmas presents between December 25th and the Epiphany on January 5th. For many the lights, silver and gold decorations, trees, and manger scenes are gone before the New Year’s ball drops six days later. Well, we just had Christmas for almost two months it seems, from Halloween through Thanksgiving and on to Christmas Day. So maybe it is time to just stop and move on.
A Transformed Life – Be a Scrooge All Year
But the spirit of Christmas does not have to end, and I can have a transformational life like in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol where Ebenezer Scrooge says, “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year!” (p. 70)
I too, like Scrooge, can become “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man [or woman] this good old city knew in the good old world.” (p. 70) But what is the path to transform my personal and professional life? It is a heart focused on generosity of time.
What is the path to transform my personal and professional life? It is a heart focused on generosity of time.
Generosity of Time
Before his transformation, Scrooge was “hard and sharp as flint … secret, self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.” (p. 4) If you wanted his time, you know where to find him… at his desk in his counting house surrounded by money or in the marketplace surrounded by men of wealth and great importance. Scrooge isolated his time to things and people that brought value to him. He certainly did not go out of his way to provide value to people who did not serve his need to be of importance.
If you wanted Scrooge, you knew where to find him and seek him out – his time was more valuable and if you wanted it, you better use it wisely. Do I as a business owner, entrepreneur, or organizational leader put limits on my time and access with certain expectations? I’m not talking about throwing healthy time management habits or personal boundaries out the window. But do I generously offer my time and purposefully seek out routine engagement with those I’m entrusted to lead? Not just making myself available to give assignments and evaluate performance, but to listen to ideas, help overcome obstacles, or maybe even know them more on a personal level.
Purposeful Engagement
Scrooge was so comfortable with his isolation he was stingy with his time. He did not have time to dine with a nephew and his wife – his only living relatives. Scrooge did not spend enough time with his only employee Bob Cratchit to know that he had a disabled son on the edge of death. Yes, I may not be as extreme as Scrooge, but when I limit access and make others seek me out, I am communicating that they have lower value and if they want my time, the price is bringing something of value to the table. This is the opposite of generosity which is giving more than is expected, and may I add – without expectations.
Transformational Generosity
We first saw Scrooge’s transformation of generosity on Christmas Day. His eyes were opened by his time with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. He emerged from isolation and according to Dickens, “went to church, and walked the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, … and found that everything could yield him pleasure.” (p. 74)
Like Scrooge, you and I can be transformed by the generosity of our time and appreciate what it means to give the gift of time as opposed to expect value from others to earn that time. Then, I too can be as good a friend, as good a master, as good a man or woman this good old world knew by honoring Christmas in my heart and trying to keep it all year.
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol in Prose: Being a Story of Christmas. Trident Press International, 2000.
Transformational Leadership
