it’s that time again–the christmas season. time for my inner scrooge to show its ugly face. those who can truly take the time to enjoy the season are the fortunate ones. there is so much that is great about christmas. its cultural significance and religious importance to us are without question two characteristics that set it apart from all the other holidays, if we actually had the time to pay attention to those things. but we don’t. this is not another one of those let’s get back to basics, give away all of our money, and just celebrate being with family and friends type blog posts. i think that we would all like to believe that that at our core, we are altruistic, selfless good-hearted people, and maybe we are. let’s be honest here, though. we do want nice gifts. we do want our friends and family to spoil us rotten and to spend insane amounts of money on presents for us. it’s easy not to admit this, because it’s the polite thing to do, and we are, after all, not the french (not that there is anything wrong with that).
the significance of christmas has been lost for me for several years now. for those to whom their faith in God is an irreplaceable part of their lives, christmas is about the birth of Christ, and everything else should be less important in the glow of that prism. every year this is repeated by some well-meaning person, but does it really sink in permanently? obviously not.
we get distracted by the same things everyone else does this time of year, and it shouldn’t be this way. this is not to condemn anyone, because i struggle with this too. when you work in a retail environment, there are quite a few things that can get to you that distract you from how cool the whole season is. the cheesy music piped in to some stores sometimes lightens my mood a little bit, but at other times it drives me nuts. sometimes the shoppers are evil and ask stupid questions. sometimes the stress level can rise without much provocation at all from external sources. if only it was just the music that summoned that inner scrooge…
like i said before, christmas is a wonderful concept… sharing quality time with family and friends, eating really good food, maybe going to a candlelight christmas service at church, listening to some christmas CDs, and maybe snagging yourself one of those cool video IPods. because it’s all about the IPODs.
christmas is more than the external stresses, wrapped packages, colored lights, and sparkling trees. it shouldn’t be a time to be depressed or to second-guess everything about our lives. it has so much more to offer us, if only we had the time to see it.