As we move through this Yuletide season, I’ve been thinking a lot about gifts. Not just the ones wrapped in paper, but the ones that arrive quietly in our lives. Opportunities, love, healing, moments of joy. And how often, when something good finally reaches us, our first instinct is to wonder whether we truly deserve it.

I think most of us know that feeling. We finally get the thing we hoped for, a new beginning, a chance, a relationship, a dream taking shape, and suddenly a voice inside asks, Who am I to receive this? Sometimes it’s because accepting the gift asks us to see ourselves differently. Sometimes it’s because we notice others still waiting for their turn and feel they are more deserving. If we’re not gentle with ourselves, those quiet doubts can lead us to push the gift away or undermine it without even realizing we’re doing so.

What I’m learning is that the question of “deserving” isn’t really ours to answer. It’s bigger than us. Life, the universe, whatever name you give it, moves on a scale we can’t fully see. Balance unfolds over time, in ways we don’t always understand. And when something shows up at our door, it’s there because, in that moment, it’s meant for us. Otherwise, it simply wouldn’t be available.

The Yuletide spirit reminds me that humility isn’t about refusing what’s offered, it’s about receiving with gratitude and using what we’re given with care and trusting it’s meant for us. When feelings of unworthiness surface, maybe all we need to do is notice them, place them gently to the side, and say: This is mine to hold right now.

As we head through this season and into the new year, I hope we can carry this spirit forward, pausing to really feel the gifts in our hands and in our hearts, saying yes to them, and saying thank you. There’s something quietly powerful in allowing ourselves to receive, with tenderness, trust, and gratitude. May we welcome what comes next with open hands and open hearts.