Thoughts of Christmas past have been running through my mind and the wishes I would love fulfilled for the holiday season and the year 2016. I remember past Christmas’ in
which approximately 20 family members celebrated together. Now we are so few,
two or three at a time. Celebrating two Thanksgivings with four people and then five people, back to back. That was this year, but there have been years
when it was just the two of us. Nice times but not the large gatherings of the
past. What has happened to our family gatherings and our need to spend time
together? Smaller gatherings seem to the
trend. We need to hold onto the special
moments.
Family does not only mean our
biological family any more. Often our closest friends are more like our family
than our biological family. Stressful and hurried times create stress among
families. Too much to do in so little time. The advanced technology has not
lighten our burdens, it has seemed to add more on our already full plates. Sometimes
we are guilty of placing too much importance on what we need to do such as
chores than maintaining and sustaining healthy relationships. We need to take
the time to let the people in our lives know how important they are to us. I
know I am guilty of placing too much importance on tasks them people at times. We
have become more of a task oriented and thing oriented society and we lost
touch with the warmth and love we can experience from being close to people. I
have a lot of wishes I would like fulfilled in 2016.
I wish that we can become closer
to our loved ones and friends and that we will make it a priority to build happier and healthier relationships. Hand
held devices cannot replace a hug. Seeing a warm smile can provide the heartfelt
feeling on a cold winter day, nothing better than warm snuggles from smiles and
hugs. An earlier study revealed that we
need so many hugs to get over anything traumatic in our lives. Hugs are very
healing.
I wish that we would all let go
of our resentments towards one another and see the beauty and depth that exists
with all of us. Forgiveness is done for us and not for the other person who
harmed us. Holding resentments is like drinking poison and waiting for the
other person to become sick. We need to forgive. It doesn’t mean that we have
to have that person in our life. It means accepting the harmful situation for what
it was and letting go of the harm that situation caused us.
I wish all of us would reach out
and volunteer in our communities. The best way to feel good about ourselves is
by helping others. I feel very rewarded when I help others even if those others
are animals. A tail wag and purring is very therapeutic. We all have a few
hours to spare to help others. There are many ways to do so from volunteering
at a soup kitchen, walking dogs at the animal shelter to cleaning a section of road.
We need to get out there and see how we can be part of the solution.
I wish all of us would take care
of ourselves physically, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. We are
all important and we need to treat ourselves as such. If one of the above areas
are off, we are off balance. We need to take the time to meditate and pray, to eat with healthy, nourishing foods, to exercise on a regular basis and treat our minds like
they are gardens needing to be fertilized and nurtured. We are very important.
I want to leave you with a poem
to set the stage for the holidays.
A Special
Time
Judy Schwab
Shopping
lists, Memories
shared,
Kitchen smells, a
quiet tear,
Children
singing, Some
are gone,
Jingle Bells— still
wanted here—
Colored
lights, A
time of Peace,
Falling snow, and
hope renewed,
Fireplace, Our
fellow man,
With amber glow-- with
love imbued—
Trees
adorned, A
host of things,
A holly bough, so
many more,
Parties,
friends, To
answer then,
Blessings now-- what’s
Christmas for?
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