It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like We Need a New View!

"After a visit to the beach,

it's hard to believe that we live in a

material world."

~ Pam Shaw

What can you do to set your mind

for the holidays?

        As the USA just celebrated their Thanksgiving holiday, anyone who uses the internet, and especially social media, will have come to understand what that particular remembrance has as its focus.  If you have been following the PB Facebook Community Page, at all, you'll have noticed that since October, we've been celebrating gratitude, pretty much every day, simply because I have an attitude problem when it comes to such things, and I wanted to get started early.  Since the members of the community have been all for it, I've happily obliged.

        This question that Christine Morgan has posed in this section of her book, Motivational Mondays, which has become a personal challenge for me, this past year, has a special meaning for me, right now.  I've been facing some things that have been helping me put things into perspective I hope is more proper than before, and priorities are a huge part of that.  Christine's commentary discusses the material things that tend to catch our eyes and be the focus of our wants during the coming holiday season.  Her hope was that perhaps by considering our priorities and options early, we can find ourselves celebrating richer, fuller experiences, rather than whatever someone decided to get or make for us.

        At my house, we tend to keep things really simple.  We actually don't get gifts for each other, very often.  When we do, they tend to be practical items we know that the recipient will use, but usually we just get whatever we were wanting at a decent time to get it, and call it our "Christmas gift".  To be honest, the fact is, we've gotten tired of trying to respectfully return something we simply can't accept for whatever reason (don't want it; wrong size/color/something; etc.).  The gifting part of the holidays just don't strike us as practical.  So we opt for something more simple, instead.

        For a long time, the holidays were painful, for various reasons, so other than throwing a tree up at the very last minute and letting the lights glow for the day, we pretty much just tried to ignore it existed.  Fortunately, over time the pain has ebbed and we have been a bit more open to the possibilities.  There are still some things that I'd rather avoid, but for the most part my feelings have become basically baseline, to partly positive. (Yes, I'm in a weird mood, so alliteration happened.) 

        But you know, it's been really interesting...the things that attract me to the holiday "spirit" are the very things Christine is saying...which brings me to my point!  

        I'm fairly sure that for the most part, the things that people do for each other at the holidays is to demonstrate love toward those who are the intended recipients. It is a way to say, "You are special to me, and I want you to know that you are worth going out of my way to do something for you, or give something to you." And this is a wonderful thing! How nice it is, to have someone care that much, at the very least!

        But how often does it so happen that we run ourselves ragged, overspend, and end up hating things and losing our cool by the time the holiday arrives? How many times have you cursed something by that time? How many times do you wake up and realize the holidays are over, you feel incredibly relieved, while at the same time, feeling a strange sort of hollow? Do your holidays end up in memories that are full, joyful and lasting longer than it takes to get bored of the items shared?

• When was the last time you went outside, under a lovely, holiday sky, and saw how high, wide, and wonderful it is? Whether daylight or night sky, just looked in wonder at its beauty, even in storms? 
• When was the last time you sat with your loved ones, electronic media turned off and put away, and just got to know each other better? Just spent time showing each other how much you value them and their presence in your life? 
•  When was the last time you contacted a friend in some form, to whom you'd send a holiday card, but not at the holiday season, just to say hello? 
•  When did you last express gratitude for the ways they have influenced your life, for good? 
• Have you spent time and energy doing something that matters deeply to someone? A way to lift their load and show them that someone cares that they exist, and understand with empathy, that we all need someone who cares beyond trinkets and the superficial? 

        We have it within us, to create traditions that fill the needs of the heart, and not just following culturally-prescribed traditions that might help us feel less guilty, but don't really connect, heart to heart. We have it within us to turn someone's outlook on life for the better, and help them feel like maybe life isn't so bad, after all. We have it within us to do little things that matter in big ways.

        So, I suppose getting ready for the holidays is more about spending some time doing more than just making a list, checking it twice, filling our conscience but paying the wrong price. It's about spending some time finding ways to really connect, and make goals to do more in the future, to make it be about more than one or two days a year - to make it a more loving, more connected, more fulfilling life, for ourselves, and those we love.

        Well, there you go.

        Better days ahead, my friends!