The document reflects on the excitement of receiving gifts during childhood Christmases, emphasizing the joy of feeling special when someone selects a present just for you. It contrasts this with the eventual realization in adulthood that true fulfillment comes from creating and initiating new experiences rather than passively receiving. Ultimately, it encourages individuals to embrace their creative potential and take control of their happiness.

1. Unwrap Your Gifts

2. When I was a kid I loved Christmas.

3. All those presents.

4. Christmas morning was like no other.

5. About an hour getting present after
present, and tearing the wrapping
paper of just to see what was inside.

6. It was a combination of a couple of
powerful persuasive effects.

7. One is getting something for free.

8. Everybody loves free stuff.

9. Especially if it's been specifically
chosen for you.

10. Sure, it's great if you go down to the
store and they're giving away free
beer.

11. But they're giving it to everybody!

12. When somebody spends time
thinking, buying and wrapping a
present just for YOU, it feels very
special.

13. Combine that with the universal power
of curiosity, and you've got a winning
combo.

14. That gift sitting under the tree for a
couple days, you wondering what it is.

15. And on top of THAT, you've got all the
flashy colors of the wrapping paper.

16. On top of THAT, you've got a pile of
these gifts, all for YOU!

17. So naturally, when it comes time to
tear through them, it's a hard feeling
to match.

18. But then, a couple days later,
something strange happens.

19. Let down. Vacation starts winding
down.

20. Have to go back to school.

21. On that one hand, the idea of having
ONE DAY out of the year is a good
thing to look forward to.

22. But it's also a horrible trap.

23. It can trap us into thinking that the
ONLY TIME when we can feel really
good is if OTHER PEOPLE put in the
effort.

24. If EVERYBODY agrees on the same
basic behavior on the same basic day.

25. AND we're dependent on the
economic health of the economy, and
our parents.

26. Two things completely out of our
control.

27. Hopefully, as we grow older, we realize
that more and more, it's up to US to
get the good stuff.

28. If we sit around waiting for somebody
to simply GIVE it to us, we may be
waiting a while.

29. But there's also a kind of magic we can
experience as an adult, that is
impossible with the mind of a child.

30. And that is the feeling of CREATING
something. Not just passively receiving
something.

31. Coming up with an idea, focusing on
that idea, combining that idea with our
actions, and INTERactions with other
people, and one day, POOF!

32. That idea has become real.

33. Something now EXISTS that didn't exist
before.

34. Before, when we were kids, it existed
before it was given to us.

35. It was just moved from one place to
another.

36. But when you're an adult, you get to
CREATE things that DIDN'T exist
before.

37. Which is EXACTLY where EVERYTHING
comes from.

38. People's imaginations, people's
actions, and people's interactions.

39. What will you create?

40. mindpersuasion.com/subliminal/