Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Christmas Thoughts




What is it about the Holidays that makes us reflect, or think of others, or ponder the way our lives are going, or write blog posts about Christmas? If you stick ten people in a room you'll get ten different answers on what Christmas is about, ranging from, "Giving love to others" to, "Its all about the tinsel, and the tree."

Personally, I always meet December with very mixed feelings. Especially now with this being the first Christmas that I'll be away from my family. Tradition runs deep in my roots, and for the first time in my life I find myself disliking the season for different reasons than I normally do. Call me scrooge if you will, but there was always been something about the season that I did not like. And the most comical thing about it was I could never pin the reason for it down. I just felt unhappy.

But then I was talking to a friend and what they said got me to wonder. And it wasn't about if Christmas was, or wasn't, bought at a store. Does Christmas have to be "perfect" in order for one to be happy? And what is a "perfect" Christmas, anyway? Is it about the time that you spend with your family, re-enacting the armistice between the French and Germans during WWI in order to share stories before the tree? Is it about the presents you get, the food you eat, and the general feeling of goodwill when there's snow on the ground and your reading a book beside the fireplace? Is it about the manager scene, and the carols one sings, to remind them once a year about the birth of a child King of Kings?

If all these things are what Christmas is about to you, well then that is good, and I congratulate you. I've always thought that that's what they were about too, and yet somehow I wasn't happy. Its because I strove so much to make a perfect Christmas every year, with perfect gifts for everyone, that I wouldn't accept it if something didn't work out the way that I wanted it. So this year I propose something different. This year I propose that we be accepting.

Remember that person that really annoys you and, every time you interact with him, you pray to God that he will change? Accept him... unconditionally. You may be surprised what it will do. That one thing that you wish you could change about your circumstances, or your personality? Accept it... just the way it is. If things in life are to change, they first must start with you. In no way am I writing this to promote apathy. Rather, that this Christmas, no matter what we are doing, or who we are, we learn to be content, and happy.

Make fried rice for Christmas dinner--with loads of garlic and MSG! Have a snowball fight, or a sledding contest naked in the snow! Remember that one thing you wish you had always done, or that one person you always see and wish you could kiss? Do what you wanted to do! Kiss the one you wanted to kiss! How can this be the season of giving to others if we ourselves are too caught up in making Christmas "right" it stops us from being happy? Stop trying so hard to make the season right and accept yourself for who you are, your circumstances for what they are, and you'll be surprised at how much that will change things.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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