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I'm going to paint the picture for you. It's your picture. You're walking down

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the street and you're feeling a bit Grinch-like.

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Why? Well, because your wallet is as empty as Santa's cookie plate on Christmas morning.

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You want to have a great Christmas, but finances are tough this year.

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And so you're feeling like a loser.

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You're feeling like this Christmas has nothing good in store.

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Well, my friend, I'm going to have you totally changing that entire mindset.

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Because today's episode, I'm going to show you how you can be the Christmas

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MVP without spending a dime.

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That's right, my friend. It's all inside of today's episode, which is episode 351.

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Yo, are you ready to flip the script on life? Because those bad days,

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they're just doors to better days.

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And that's exactly what we do here at Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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Your host, Kevin Lowe. He's been flipping the script on his own life,

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turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight-up inspiration,

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motivation, and encouragement just for you.

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So, kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

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Welcome back to the second part of our holiday series.

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Last time, that was on Tuesday's episode, episode 350, we were talking about

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embracing the perfectly imperfect Christmas.

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Today, we are taking it a step further.

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Because today, my friend, we are helping you become the Christmas MVP without spending a dime.

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So first off, let's define what it means to be a Christmas MVP.

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First off, it's not about buying the greatest gifts, the most expensive gifts.

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It's not about you hosting the most luxurious parties. No, it's about none of that.

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Instead, my friend, it's about you spreading joy one small act at a time.

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Because if you want a gift that keeps on giving, well, there's nothing better than joy.

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So now how do we do that, you ask? Well, there's many ways, but it all starts

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with the thing that we should all be doing all the time, but especially this time of year.

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And that's smiling a whole lot more. I know, I know, smiling?

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It sounds cheesy. It sounds a bit corny, but my friend, I promise you,

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I want you while you're out and about preparing for Christmas.

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I want you to smile at a stranger. Matter of fact, I want you to make it a point.

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I challenge you to smile at at least five complete strangers,

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whether it's the cashier checking you out with the gifts you've bought,

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or it's just a person you're passing on the aisle of the store.

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I just want you to smile. My friend, you never know what somebody else is going

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through, and you never know what that simple smile might mean to them.

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So if you want to light up the world brighter than the best street of Christmas

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lights, then all you have to do is smile.

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Next up on the list of how you can spread joy this Christmas is the art of the compliment.

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The compliment, if you think about it, it's like a verbal hug.

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So I encourage you to be sure that each and every day you give genuine compliments.

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You have to make them sincere. You have to make them specific.

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I want you to compliment your neighbor on their Christmas lights this year,

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how they're extra bright. They're extra special.

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And what about the neighbor with the big blow-up Santa Claus?

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Maybe you find it slightly annoying because it has that generator running, keeping it blown up.

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But instead, you're just going to make their day by complimenting them on how

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awesome it is. or maybe you're at work and it's that coworker who insisted on

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doing the whole ugly sweater thing.

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Well, why not just compliment them? Maybe they're the only one who actually

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showed up with an ugly sweater on.

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Well, don't make them feel embarrassed. Instead, compliment them.

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Tell them how amazing it is.

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Again, my friend, the key here is to be specific with your compliment.

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And I hope it's sincere. People can see right through you if you're not being sincere.

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Do not do this just to do this. Instead, I want you to do this out of sincerity.

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I want you to find little ways of making someone's day. That's what today's challenge is all about.

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Today's entire episode is helping you to give the gift of your smile.

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Of a compliment, of spreading a little bit of joy.

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Now, of course, for those of you, though, who are thinking, okay,

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But I would like to do a little bit more than just smile or give somebody a

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compliment. Well, I got you taken care of also.

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My friend, random acts of kindness. They're more than just a trendy buzzword.

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It's not something that just has to make it on the nightly news about the mile-long

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line of people at the local McDonald's who paid for the person behind them.

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No, it can also just be as simple as you unexpectedly shoveling the snow off

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of your neighbor's driveway.

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Or maybe if you're in Florida, like myself, and snow is nowhere to be seen.

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Well, maybe it's you just raking up the leaves out of their yard.

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You don't ask them, but you know that they would need it done.

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Maybe it's an elderly neighbor. Maybe it's a neighbor with a disability.

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Maybe it's just somebody who you would love to help make their day.

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Just do something that you know that would light up their day,

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that they're going to be surprised about.

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Maybe it's simple as you bringing the mail up to their door.

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Maybe it's you, when you're baking Christmas cookies, you bake an extra dozen

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and you take them to your neighbor.

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Another idea for you is to leave a thank you note taped to your mailbox.

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It's not for you to mail. No, it's for your mail carrier.

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Because if you think about it, at Christmas time, The delivery drivers,

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they are the ultimate MVP of Christmas because they're being sure that all those

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presents are delivered to your home on time.

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Another awesome idea is if you have a friend who has kids and you know they

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got a lot of gifts they got to wrap, why not ask if you can give them a hand?

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Show up at their house with a couple of cups of hot chocolate and sit down and

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help them bust out some wrapping of the gifts.

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Everybody knows that wrapping gifts can be a total project.

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Well, you give them a hand. That, my friend, is going to brighten their day.

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It's going to take some stress off of them.

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And it's going to do wonders for your friendship.

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The biggest thing here, my friend, it's not about grand gestures.

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It's about the little things because the little things mean the most.

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Now, with all of that giving, with all of that doing, I bet that there's at

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least somebody I'm talking to today who's thinking, yeah, but what about me?

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What can I do for myself this Christmas?

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Well, my friend, I'm not going to judge because I think we all need a little

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me time. We all need to practice a little bit more self-care.

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So for yourself, why don't you steal a moment and take a walk?

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Admire the change in the leaves. Admire the Christmas lights.

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Or maybe it's you. You've been working your butt off. You've been cooking.

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You've been wrapping presents. Your feet hurt.

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Well, why don't you go book yourself a pedicure? You don't even got to tell

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anybody. The kids are at school.

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Your husband, he's off to work. And you just steal a moment for yourself to

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go get a little pedicure, to get a massage, to have something done for you. Again, it's Christmas.

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If you're going to spread joy to others, you might as well be sure that you're

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spreading joy to yourself as well.

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And nothing says joy quite like a deep tissue massage.

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And as I wrap up today's episode, as I wrap up our second episode in my little

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mini series, preparing you for the holiday, I want you to remember this,

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is that no matter what your situation,

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no matter what your financial situation looks like.

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No matter what is going on in life, we all have a choice.

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We have a choice every day we wake up to decide what we want this day to be.

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Today, I've given you a few ideas that don't take much. It's just a simple smile, a simple compliment.

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Just you simply lending a hand to somebody in need.

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My friend, it doesn't take much to light up somebody's day. And I believe if

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we could all encompass this type of mindset, this world would be a much better place.

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This Christmas would be the best Christmas ever if we all smiled more,

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complimented more, and did for others more.

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And of course, as I said, also doing for ourselves.

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Because if you're not doing for yourself, then you're probably not going to

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be showing up as your best to do for others. So the biggest thing here,

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my friend, is I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

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I thank you for being here, supporting the podcast.

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And it has been my pleasure to be with you this week, every week.

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And hey, if somebody you know might be struggling this Christmas,

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I hope you share today's episode with them so that they can realize that it doesn't take much.

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It certainly doesn't take money to make this one of the best Christmases ever.

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With that, I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year.

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From my podcast studio to your earbuds.

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Music.