What does this Season mean for you?

Well One and All

Once again we have come to the end of another year. Many are looking forward to the festive break so they can spend quality time with family and friends. Yet what has become obvious to me over the past month, and what has probably been obvious to many for a long time now, is that the reason for this season, has simply disappeared in maelstrom of frivolity and commercialism.

Maybe it’s just that as I get older, I am seeing life from a more rounded perspective. I now think things through more, wondering and pondering at the effectiveness, the usefulness, the message behind the scenes, the tale behind the story. Maybe too, as I journey along life’s wonderful yet sometimes challenging pathway, experience and life have taught me to be cautious, to ask more questions, to delve further than what is presented on the surface.

Hence, I found myself two years ago standing back and looking at all that goes on around and before the so called Big day, trying to get a feel for what it is all really about. Certainly the birth of Christ has been lost amidst all the hype and build up.

I frequent the gym regularly and what I’ve noticed since September was the constant bombardment of spend, spend, spend, eat, eat, eat that flickered its way on the tv screens. Everything was about, excess and overindulgence. I guess it was when I saw the advert for KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) advertising their food in a festive manner, as if receiving KFC was some sort of welcomed gift that I realised that things were a little askew? There was nothing in the adverts which promoted the significance of this season or even if one is not religious, then the significance of spending time with those whom we love and cherish. There was nothing which determined what it was exactly that everyone was so fired up and stressed about. There was nothing to justify the huge amounts of money that would be spent on presents, food other than to spend, spend, spend. As always, the same old reports in the press about people getting into debt makes this whole charade even more worrying.

For me, Christmas is a time to relax with people who you trust and love. It is a time to laugh, eat good food, to find yourself again, to relax and just vegetate in front of the television, to enjoy being with people you care about. This is a time when everyone can relax without the hustle and bustle of daily life and just be. In reality I know for many, this is not the case as often times, this period can be fraught with conflict as families who do not meet often, converge onto one place and for others, there is no family or time to share with.

Yet, because this is such an individual time for us all, let us just remember one thing, whatever we believe and wherever we are. Firstly, no man is an island, and as we fill our stomachs and enjoy time with each other, just from this alone, we are truly in a good place and we should spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves. There are many who have passed, many who are suffering and many who do not have the privilege of being in a caring environment. So I guess the greatest gift for me is that I will be sharing this season with my two sons and my sister and my best friend. People who really mean the most to me in my inner circle.

Whatever you get out of December 25th, make it a good one and if you can find some way to give it a sense of meaning, to give back, then do so, because life is about memories, experiences, sharing and giving and we cannot ask for more than that as treasured gifts.