Holiday Cheer

The holidays are upon us and life continues to get in the way. As magical as Christmas is, there's so much to get through before we can feel the magic. The commercialization of the holiday doesn't help much in this respect. Rising prices make it even more difficult. However, it is the season of giving and a time to rejoice. If only we could do just two things. First, we should experience Christmas through the eyes of children, always. We need to feel the pleasurable anticipation of the season. We need to explore the mystery of how Santa Claus knows when we've been naughty and when we've been nice. Next, we need to carry this feeling through the rest of the year.

I always laughed at the idea of Christmas in July, but why not. If Christmas is capable of changing the scrooge into a somewhat likeable being, I've in favor of having Christmas more often. If giving a token of affection were something that we do all year long, there wouldn't be so many guilt trips and overindulgences at the end of the year when the actual holiday comes about. We are celebrating the birth of Christ, aren't we? I'm still not sure where that translated into bearing gifts for everyone, but, okay, we've come that far.

Many of us are not the people we thought we would be. My question becomes why aren't we? During the holidays, we put on our good cheer and we become generous bumpkins. Is this what we really are or is it simply a facade of goodness we don so that we appear deserving? I know that some people could take or leave this season just like they could take or leave the weather. Unfortunately, leaving it tends to become more and more difficult as time goes on.

There's much to be said about the holiday spirit and the spirit of Christmas. I just feel it is a shame that it is limited to one month, or one day, a year.