The Gift That Keeps On Giving

One of the better ways of celebrating the Christmas season is not giving or getting more than one already has -- but in being grateful for and appreciating what one already has. That has the potential to multiply one's "gifts," even if one receives nothing more -- than what they already have.

One of the great problems of Christmas and abundance in general, is that one seldom appreciates and fully/best utilizes all that one already has, and so even the most prosperous of Christmases, can often turned out to be a great disappointment as well, as the more one gets, fuels the desire for more, while doing little or nothing, to increase one's quality of life, or satisfaction with what one has -- and making the most of them.

One is inclined to believe that the solution is simply getting and having "more," rather than doing more/better, with all that one already has. Very few people actually obtain maximum use and value of all that they already have -- but think that their solution is insatiably "more" -- and not that what they already have, may be more than enough, if they simply appreciated and got better use of the humble things they have -- that they simply take for granted.

That lesson was brought home to me recently when I discovered the many uses of an ordinary household product nearly everyone is familiar with and probably have -- tucked away in the cupboard, waiting to see the light of day. In fact, most people are hard pressed to think of a good use -- for truly one of the most useful products widely available and so cheap, that most people could only wish they could think up more good uses for it -- never suspecting that it good be as close to a panacea as there is in the world.

I'm talking about baking soda -- for less than a dollar a pound box. Church & Dwight make it for practically everybody else, so even the off-brand is as good as the trademark familiar
Arm & Hammer brand, though their bulk bag (13.5 lbs.), is a marvel of industrial strength packaging that the US still leads the world -- for $5.99 at Costco. I would like to think that such a bag is a virtual lifetime supply for many, or at least a year's worth, but fortunately, the more uses one can think of for it, the better off and healthier one will be -- including drinking, washing, cleaning, bathing, brushing with it -- as the most familiar and common uses. But the surprising thing to me, was in its effectiveness at extremely dilute concentrations of one teaspoon per liter of water in a spray bottle to cure all the problems one resigns themselves to thinking that there is nothing one can do about it.

Apparently, baking soda creates the optimal internal, as well as external environment for human life and activities -- eliminating most household odors, mold, mildew, and mustiness, one thinks is just how air smells. The most difficult thing to "see," is the environment one is conditioned to.