The Christmas Holiday

The Christmas Holiday

Over the many Christmas holidays I have experienced throughout my lifetime I have discovered that this time of year can be very stressful. It’s filled with overeating, eating things that are not exactly good for us and being just plain busy with visiting, wrapping, filling out Christmas cards, decorating, the whole nine yards. I don’t spend a day baking and decorating cookies anymore and was happy to give up that tradition. There are things we can do to make the holidy season more enjoyable. We can all have a happy holiday season if we reach out to others. 

                I can understand why people who have faced hard times find the holidays especially difficult. There is so much hype in the media about festive events and if our holiday festivities are not as elaborate as the ones portrayed by the media we may consider ourselves failures. However, Christmas and Thanksgiving should represent our gratefulness for what we do have in our lives. Even the poorest of the poor have something to be grateful for. I am grateful for my loving husband, our wonderful pets and my health. My health affords me many opportunities to get out and enjoy life and participate in volunteer activities.

                My husband and I are so much beyond the partying stage in our lives and we enjoy a good movie with a large bucket of popcorn on our lap. What a treat. We enjoy going for walks with our dogs. We enjoy making the lives of our little furry friends at the animal shelter a little bit better. I sit in the middle of the floor and they climb on top of me and cuddle with me. I like looking at the bulletin board that my husband and I decorated at the shelter and our ability to bring cats out front to get adopted.  We have actually volunteered at the shelter during the holidays and brought a little Christmas cheer to our little furry friends. All the cats are usually given canned cat food. It’s cute when they order us to serve them.  Over 100 cats have been adopted because we donated feature cat kits. Some cats have been passed by and we help them find a home. We love that these cats are now in a home hopefully getting the love they deserve.

                I also volunteer for an elders group. I have done a lot for this group and I am considering stepping down from my position. They are placing a lot of responsibility on my shoulders and it takes a lot of my time.  However, I am happy that I was able to assist this organization for the past four years. I have learned a lot from the sessions that were provided and have learned a lot from the entire experience and met a lot of wonderful people.

                Knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of many furry and non-furry beings has brought a lot of happiness to us.  I saw a posting on facebook in which a family decided to give to charity what they would spend on each other for Christmas. I think that is great. I think that the giving of Christmas should be practiced throughout the year. We can do so by donating our time, by giving to others what we can afford to give and by being nice to one another. More people need to realize that the more you give the more you get. I am not talking about money. I am talking about being rich with the good feeling from helping others.

                Let’s take this time to start a habit of giving of our time and resources to those in need.  We can all give more and enjoy doing so. We need to give ourselves a hug and tell ourselves how wonderful we are. Also, let’s use this time of year to start a habit of being kind and nonjudgmental to our neighbors, friends, acquaintances, people we don’t know and all the furry little creatures. All of us can make a difference in the lives of others.