{"id":1895,"date":"2015-11-27T00:57:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T00:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1895"},"modified":"2015-11-22T01:05:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-22T01:05:00","slug":"for-those-who-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/11\/for-those-who-shop.html","title":{"rendered":"For Those Who Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>I have a suggestion for shopping this year. It might help shave time off of the decision-making that can be confounding at times, and frustrating at others. That murky, “Will he\/she like this?”<\/p>\n

Years ago, several people told me that you should always buy the gift that you yourself would like to receive. I suppose the meaning of this was that, given you had perfect taste in gifts, you’d never give a “dud.” And you’d never see your gift being re-gifted…Well…<\/p>\n

I actually think the more logical thing to do would be to take the person for whom you’re shopping along with you. Not physically (that would defeat the purpose of giving a ‘surprise’ gift). But in your mind and heart. Look at all the selections before you and imagine the friend, parent, sibling, or co-worker actually wearing, using, or eating what you’re about to purchase. If you just can’t see it, don’t buy it. Unless\u00a0you<\/em> want it, which is a different blog post altogether!<\/p>\n

When I write fiction, one of the exercises I’ll do is take my characters shopping with me – trying to see the world through their eyes. I think it works for “real life,” too; and I find I spend less time wondering what to get and more time understanding and appreciating each individual on my list.<\/p>\n

Peace<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a suggestion for shopping this year. It might help shave time off of the decision-making that can be confounding at times, and frustrating at others. That murky, “Will he\/she like this?” Years ago, several people told me that you should always buy the gift that you yourself would like to receive. I suppose…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFor Those Who Shop - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/11\/for-those-who-shop.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For Those Who Shop - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have a suggestion for shopping this year. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1895"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1896,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions\/1896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}