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SO It’s Christmas…Be a Gift

For the past few years, I have struggled with having the “Christmas spirit”.

I have longed for the excitement that I used to have as a child or at least what I felt five years ago when I hosted my family (my grandmother, her twins including my mom, and their combined nine children and fourteen grandchildren). From Christmas Eve until Christmas night, everyone was at my house eating, laughing, and playing pool and games I made-up. Things were not perfect and there was even some arguing, but we were together.

The past few years have been different, and I have enjoyed Christmas in a different way.

But with that, I have not felt the excitement of Christmas in a while. I’ve been thankful and not the least bit depressed, just not excited for lots of different reasons.

In spite of not being in the spirit (I know I’m not alone), I have decided to be a gift. I don’t care much about receiving gifts, and I used to really enjoy picking out and giving gifts. But now I choose to be a gift. I give myself, my heart, my time, my talents, and my love (and a few gifts too).

This past week, I had lots of fun attending other people’s parties and giving gifts to the board members of The S.O. What! Foundation.

The pictures below are of just a few of the awesome people I got to spend time with at the parties (wish I would have gotten more pictures with more people). But these are a few of the people who have supported and encouraged me along my S.O. What! journey, and I am thankful to have shared a little holiday cheer with them.

Merry Christmas to you however and with whomever you spend it! And whether you give give gifts or get gifts, find ways to be a gift to others too.

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I’m Summer Owens, and my passion is helping youth and young adults realize success no matter what obstacles they face. As an international resilience and leadership keynote speaker, author, S.O. What! Success Coach, and creator of the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education curriculum, I empower people to say, “So what!” to even their greatest challenges.  provide a framework to help people see past their challenges and focus on solutions using the S.O. What! Success System (Overcome Obstacles + Eliminate Excuses + Calculate Choices = S.O. What! Success). Through keynotes, workshops, books, online courses, and workbooks, I use life’s challenges and my own story of resilience as a rape survivor and teen mom success story to help others confidently pursue their dreams.

Looking for an inspiring college motivational speaker? A high school literacy curriculum? A middle school life skills workbook? A great example for teen mothers? A women’s empowerment or single mother’s conference speaker?  I’m your girl and will help any audience say, “S.O. What!”.

 

www.SummerOwens.com