Well, It is Christmas and since I haven’t written a darn thing since I returned home in early October, I figure its time to say SOMETHING about What’s Right with America. I think it is a great time and place to tell the world what is important to me at Christmas. After all this is MY blog…..so there!
I went to church yesterday and of course the Church focusses on the religious meaning of Christmas and downplays the commercial aspects. I’m good with that actually. Once you get to be an old fart (speaking from experience) the “getting” part of Christmas loses its luster. The giving part is really fun though, especially if friends/family and little ones are involved. Nothing like the look on a kids face when he or she actually FINDS the Pony they were sure was there for them. (All right, Pony, Video game, gadget, clothing item or whatever makes them smile). But the giving experience is really more than putting some materialistic desire at the fingertips of those you love. For me the “giver”, it is the twinkle of happiness, however misguided, childlike, or fleeting, enjoyed by the “givee”. Yeah, in alot of cases it is materialistic on the givee’s part, especially the young ones, but it is far more than that as I observe. I make the event special for myself.
Christmas can put people off a bit because religion and even spirituality are deeply personal things, at least to me. I see the concept of the birth of the Son of God on Earth as an opportunit for redemption. Not just religious redemption. I am convinced that the world has become almost too worldly to focus on religious redemption. I think that is a big part of the problem, i.e. not enough reliance on the “other worldly” aspects of life in our daily existence. When I put Christmas in context in a worldly manner that works for me, I mean in a tangible way that I can demonstrate so others can observe, experience, and hopefully appreciate, I see the event of Christmas as an opportunity for a “Do Over” from the past.
New years resolutions are great but meaningless to me. So what is a new calendar year? It means I have to ruin about a months worth of bank checks with the wrong date scratched out, initialed, and correctly printed. It means I can say in early February, “WOW! Those didn’t work out.”
So what is Christmas in my worldly opinion? It is an opportunity to look over the past year or years of life to see what I can improve. Now I know all the people in my life can do a lot more to improve themselves in my opinion, (that is a joke, OK?) but the reality of life is we all have a primary focus and it just may be on the “monkey in the mirror” as I told my little ones when they first glimpsed themselves in a silvered glass panel hanging on the wll in the hallway. One thing I have learned in my short but rich life, is that anything that “bugs” me is not with the other person or situation. It is that I allow the “bug” to live in my head. It’s all about me, always was and always will be. Only I can prevent my own pain and discomfort. Only I can provide for my own reasonable happiness, serenity and contentment. So I do my best to stop looking around for my “White Knight”. He’s right here, in my boots. Shaazamm!
Do you know why I think Christmas happens every year for me? I think it is because I am an imperfect being. (Imperfect?…That is an adjective of amazing understatement describing me.) I need regular and frequent chances to try again to “get it right” in life. I’ll never get enough “Do overs” on this planet, but at Christmas, I see the one time of the year that somehow, somewhere, I can be reminded that the past does not have to be the future. I can behave better, treat others better, be more gracious in the face of defeat, be less barbaric in the face of victory, be more understanding in the face of adversity, especially other’s adversity because God has given me precious little adversity in life. (Thank You God!) The image on the cross depicts someone who gave his life so that ours would be better. We celebrate it every year because try as we might, we lose sight of the objective. That is to create a better life for ourselves using the tools and faith that God gave us. It’s an endless effort and needs renewing at least once per year. (Daily in my case cause I’m a slow learner.)
You know what else? I can choose to treat myself better too. Gosh knows most of us are our own worst critics. That’s just WRONG in so many ways. Hey, it’s Christmas and we can try to change that in the future can’t we? But alas, back to my point that Christmas is not only a religious holiday on the calendar, it is an annual event in my life that reminds me all is neither lost or won. The battle rages on and the outcome, although frequently in doubt, is viewed by a force so spectacular as to be without adequate description. So next year at this time, I get to look at the my concept of Christmas and again review my score of the last 60 something years and try to put some more points on the board for the Good Guys. I think I can do that. As a matter of fact, why wait till next year? I’ll start right now by publishing this letter.
Merry Christmas to all my friends, readers, and of course family.
PS WHAT’S RIGHT WITH AMERICA is that I have this opportunity to fearlessly tell anyone who wishes to listen, just how blessed I am.
Glad to see you writing again and hope to see more. Merry Christmas!
Merry merry new day to you, white and shiny@
Say, I know about both sides of the giving, and I love them both, and enjoy making others happy. Experienced the rejection and the falling short and the being judged not good enough, just hours ago. Success in some areas came tho…. It’s my faith and belief in life and in our HP that we can keep on trying to achieve better that makes me wake smiling today.
Your blog sounds just like you talk, do more!
My Dear Ellen, First and foremost, Merry CHRISTmas! Sounds like you had mixed blessings today. I’m sorry for the whatever negatives you received, but I will see if I can accentuate the positives. Remember a few months ago, when I stated my unequivocal theory about life that God has given us all the answers when we were born. It is our job to choose the “correct door” when we “Come on down” to life’s journey. I would put money on the fact that most of the time the Ellen I know chooses the correct door. I really believe that about you. Problem is, after we open the door of choice, the person on the other side doesn’t like our choice, even though we are sure it was the right one. So now what do we do? Well, I do my best to rely on my inner voice that affirms my choice and I try to go from there realizing that other peoples choice of doors might be different. The fact is I HAD to choose that door cause it was right for me at the time I chose. My CHRISTmas Blog talks about treating ourselves better. The way we accept the negatives thrown at us is what that is all about. You know in your heart of hearts that the way you acted and the choices you made were the RIGHT ONES. So after the proverbial conflict you just have to rely on the fact that your choice was YOUR CHOICE. It was for your benefit and edification but in a non selfish way. I struggle with it constantly, but in the end, the “Little Voices” win out and I go away content that what I did was the right thing at the time FOR ME. If that helps GREAT! If not, sorry it was the best I could do at the time. See you soon and thank you again for reading WRWA.wordpress.com
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my friend.