The few weeks before Christmas is an interesting time of year – planning, shopping, buying, partying, praying, cooking, helping, wondering, hoping, singing, decorating, traveling, eating, drinking, – with urgings to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in a big way. Our cities, towns, villages are alive with brightly colored advertisements, merry music, santa, shoppers carrying bags of gifts. It’s a tricky time of year in that getting caught up in spending can happen in a flash. It’s hard to ignore the joy of it all.
However, not being over our heads in credit card bills from holiday spending is a beautiful way to live, and a great way to begin a new year. That means we have to be creative in how we celebrate the holidays. They’ll be a lot more joy in our hearts if bills are not weighing us down. We just need an open heart, a smile, a little imagination, and a readiness to do things differently.
Also, there’s this wonderful word called gratitude; it’s written about a lot lately. I’m sure there have always been people who daily express gratitude in the silence of their hearts. Though now it’s become a way of life for many. Maybe it’s because we see so many who lose so much so suddenly, or maybe it’s because we see so many who have so much wanting so much more. It can get complicated, if we let it. Gratitude, simplicity, balance, staying in tune with our hearts, can give us the true meaning of the holidays. Otherwise, you know, it can get crazy, if we let it.
So, can we say this about the holidays, if you’ve got it, this is a great time to flaunt it; if you don’t, why would you.
Riches are not from abundance of wordly goods, but from a contented mind. – Mohammed
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank You,” that would suffice.
– Meister Eckhart
The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden
because of their simplicity and familiarity. – Ludwig Wittgenstein