“17 sleeps ’till Christmas”,  That’s what my 8 year old Nephew (great Nephew really), told me at his birthday party yesterday. His excitement about a visit from Father Christmas is magically and contagious.

As we get older many of us lose that sense of excitement probably due to the pressure that comes with growing up, and somewhere along the way there’s always that certain person who reveals that certain secret which inevitably leads to some Christmas magic being taken away, this is a real shame.

For me, the person that diluted my Christmas spirit was my school teacher. Hard to believe in some ways, because she was such a nice lady, strict, but nice.  I never have understood why she thought it was the right thing to do.  To this day I remember her exact words. We all filed into her classroom, new pupils on the first morning of the Autumn (Fall) term. She said. “Now you’re 8 years old, it’s time you stopped believing in …………..” (You know what she said next so I don’t need to write it down).

A few of us looked at each other silently stunned by her revelation, a lot of Mum’s and Dad’s were asked questions that night, and although they insisted she was wrong, a flicker of Christmas light had been blown out.

As a grown up, I’ve always tried (where ever I have any influence), to make sure that the Christmas secret is kept. We spend far longer as grown ups, so what’s the harm in helping our young ones keep the magic for a little longer.

Even so, I’ve always loved Christmas especially the run up to the big day.I love Christmas films too, my two favourites being, A Christmas Carol and Miracle on 34th Street. (It’s A Wonderful Life Gets comes a close third).

My affinity with A Christmas Carol, is possibly due to the character being called Tim, Tiny Tim, and because he (like me) had problems walking, (mine due to my Arthritis from 5 years old). But it is one of those films that conveys the meaning and values of Christmas, I watch this every year, and if possible try to see it in the theatre too, but it has to be before the 25th of December.

With Miracle on 34th Street, during my school days I often played the jolly old man, and later in life when I had a fancy dress business, was asked to stand in for him again, (though I think this was due to the fact that I had several suitable costumes, so they didn’t need to hire one). Check the films out if you can, I’m sure it will make you feel more “Christmassy”.

Let me know what you like about Christmas, and what it means to you. Don’t forget to add your favourite films, stories and games too. (post a comment below).

There are a couple of other things I love about the festive season, one I’ll tell you about later, but for now another one is “giving”. I know it’s great to get presents and it may sound a strange thing to say, but, I get as much (if not more), pleasure from giving gifts to others. So in the run up to Christmas I’m going to be sending you (my subscribers) more gifts, we’ll start today with a great e-book.

“Free and Low Cost Ways to Huge Web Traffic” This book talks you through 6 effective low cost (some are FREE) strategies to increase web traffic to your websites and pages. All 6 strategies are easy to implement (or outsource) and will stay valid for a long time, so once created you’ll have a nice steady traffic stream.

My second gift will be in the email I send to you today along with the download details for the above book. The second gift is a definite winner, we all know how valuable cloud storage is going to become, services like Dropbox and Box are great but they are limited with the amount of storage you get, in my email today (and on the list bonus download page), you will find a link to unlimited cloud storage, (Free sign up). It’s definitely worth checking out.

If you’re not a subscriber yet, click on the sign up now link below, or pop your details into the opt-in on the right hand side to get your internet marketing library too.

Be in touch soon with more prezzies, thoughts and tips for you. Leave a comment below, if you like the post why not Tweet it or pop it onto facebook – click on the Share & Save box below.