I’ve always taken it for granted that Christmas week is something incredibly special! For me and my family, it always has been.

Essentially, the old year ends December 24, then comes the Christmas interlude–absolutely, the most wonderful time of year–then the New Year starts on January 2. A week of putting everything else aside in favour of family time, relaxation time, celebration time.

Funny, how we assume our experience is the norm for everyone. I suppose if we could average everyone out (not possible), that period would come out as special.

For many, though, I’ve come to realize, it’s not that way. For some, it’s special, but only for about a day, not a week. For some it’s actually a dreaded time as they face family arguments. For some, there just is nothing to celebrate, or no one to celebrate with!

My reality is not everyone’s reality!

But here’s something else I think! Everyone wants to make Christmas special, whatever that means to them. Maybe it’s a big celebration, maybe a little one. Maybe it’s just a tiny positive blip on an otherwise mundane life graph.

Here’s something else I think! Everyone can do something to make it a positive experience, or at least more positive than it might otherwise be. For those for whom it already is pretty special (like me), we can do something to make it even more fabulous!

I heard of one teenager who decided to do a random act of kindness every day through the month of December. What a great idea! He’s made Christmas a bit more special for 32 people this year. And he probably made the biggest blip on the graph of life for that 32nd person–himself!

We often use the word “merry” for our Christmas greetings. According to the dictionary, that means “cheerful, bright, light-hearted, festive, jolly, happy.” I wish you all that!

But for those for whom that might be a bit of a stretch, I’m still wishing you a positive Christmas  blip on the graph of life!

 

Quote of the Week:

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. – Charles Dickens