At this chaotic time of the year, there seems to be one thing on everyone’s mind.
MONEY.
Whether you participate in the Christmas shopping craziness, Channukah with many nights of gifts, other special events this time of the year, or even year-end end finances makes us a little crazy.
Don’t let this overwhelming thought make things so hard that you forget what is really important, now and the rest of the year. Love.
Yes, I know it sounds very cliche, that’s because that is what it has become. It shouldn’t be but it is. I could go on and on about why it is important, but we all know why it is. We just forget. We get all wrapped in the stresses of everyday life, like money and forget that love is still free. Not much else is, but love is.
We have had many years where finances have been really tough especially at Christmas. We have been self employed most of our adult lives and so we have had to deal with our share of layoffs, clients that don’t pay, work that simply doesn’t come our way, illness, more payables than receivables and everything that goes with life. We have had some really lean financial years and some really profitable years. But after all is said and done, we have always had each other. We have had tussles with family members, we have had disagreements that verge on all out wars, and we have had great years where we love each other so much. But some of our best Christmas’s have been where the gifts are secondary.
This year for us, we can relax a little financially. This is not a homemade Christmas for us as we have done in the past. We won’t be ‘the family under the tree’ from somebody’s school, as we have been before. We can help with other people’s Christmas hamper. We can look at our finances and know that rent is paid and we have groceries, and we know how that feels to not have that. We can look into that beautiful face of our grandson and remember that none of that matters. He is loved and so are you.
This year we will for the first time in many years have a baby in the house at Christmas. That changes things. People seem to behave better when there are babies around. But, one of the things to remember about babies is that they don’t care about the ‘right’ gift, the ‘right’ outfit, who is fighting with whom, real or fake tree, or if there are presents at all. All a baby wants is love. They know when there is love in that hug and that is all that really matters.
Please go into this season of busy with love in your heart and in your mind and this will be a season that you will enjoy.
God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. -Voltaire
