The Christmas Post

This is the post where I usually go on and on about how loved I feel, how happy I am, and how much I appreciate my life. This year, I think I'll point in a different direction.

My friends, If you have never learned the lesson taught in A Christmas Carol, please go watch, read, or listen to it. Kindness and compassion are free, and something that the world could do well to have more of.  Being selfless and offering to be there to lend a hand to those in need is a gift not only to those you help, but to yourself as well. The 'Christmas spirit' is often lacking on our lives, and even if it only appears once a damned year, it is worth experiencing. I love putting dollars into the red buckets, giving to the kids out canning, and offering a little something to a local charity. Throughout the year, I try to keep it alive, though. I usually pay for the person behind me at the toll booth. It's a small gesture, but I love to watch the person pay anyway. If I could, I would buy the world a Coke, so to speak.

I understand that I am privileged and truly don't understand need, but I see life differently than most people I know. I can appreciate hardship, and hard times - I've been there. I haven't forgotten what it is like to eat macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles, but I guess what I'm getting at is that I HAD food. I might not have liked it much, but I HAD it.  As I get older, I realize just how many people DON'T have anything to eat at all, or a roof over their head, or a safe place to even sit. Yes, I am privileged. I hope that we, as a society, begin to remember the cast-off members of this tribe of mankind. I wish with all my heart that no person would be hungry or forgotten in a society as supposedly advanced as ours claims to be. But every time I hear a young person angry for not getting the latest iPhone or gaming console, I die a little inside. Life is more than the latest gadget. It is far more than the newest 'thing'. Life is about humanity. I think they might have stopped teaching that.

I hope that we remember this someday.

For you all, I wish the merriest of Christmases. I had a wonderful celebration with an abundance of food, gifts, and family. I hope that the next year finds me giving more to those who truly need it, and sharing that joy with my family and loved ones.