Happy "insert holiday here"

"Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart." ~Washington Irving

When do you mark the start of the holiday season? Is it at Thanksgiving? Is it as early as Halloween? Or do you mark it when you see the first Christmas display in a store?

I for one tend to mark it privately as the time when we actually put the Christmas tree up in our home. That normally coincides with the weekend or two after Thanksgiving. For Christians, Christmas Eve marks the birth of Jesus. But the holiday season isn't just the Christian holiday of Christmas.

Traditionally, there is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany. There are also the celebrations of Yule, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. There are probably others that I am missing as well.

The holiday season encompasses a lot of different ways in which peoples, religions and cultures celebrate this time of year. It is also a time of the year to 'ease off a bit' on the political correctness of it all. By declaring "Happy Holidays", "Merry Christmas", or "Happy Hannukah" is not meant as an affront to others. The spirit of the season, religious or not is wishing kindness and happiness upon others.

It is a time of the year when we can possibly let down some of our disagreements and treat each other just a little more kindly. During the holiday season we can re-learn the idea of loving each other and hating a little bit less. The rest of the year tends to lack enough of that as it is.

During this holiday season, instead of complaining about the Christmas tree or Menorah on display at a school, why not turn your energy towards just being nicer to someone. If a kinara or a Yule Goat shows up in front of a courthouse, maybe tolerance should rule your thoughts. Maybe kindness and goodwill towards your fellow person should be the course of action.

I celebrate Christmas as Christian and am proud and happy to say Merry Christmas. I have Jewish friends that celebrate Hanukkah and are happy to say Happy Hanukkah. I have Australian friends that are happy to say Happy Boxing Day (I would suppose). Be proud of who you are and your celebration but remember that the point is being kinder and loving your fellow man a bit more.

January 2nd will come soon enough and many will have forgotten the spirit of the season. Try to hold onto that "...genial flame of charity in the heart" well beyond the holiday season.

What Did He Say?

"It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either." ~Wayne Dyer

A husband looking through the paper came upon a study that said women use more words than men.

Excited to prove to his wife that he had been right all along when he accused her of talking too much. He showed her the study results.

It read: "Men use about 15,000 words per day, but women use 30,000."

The wife thought for a while, then finally she said to her husband "It's because we have to repeat everything we say."

The husband said "What?"

Hopefully you laughed just a little bit along with the slight groaning that probably happened. It is that laughter that we should each try to engage in each day. Laughter has been described as "a tranquilizer with no side effects."

We each know that there is enough bad news, frustration and down right depressing things that occur each day. But there should also be moments of laughter and enjoyment. Those are the moments we should concentrate on and enjoy.

There is a good article in Psychology Today called The Science of Laughter that explores why we may or may not laugh and what the science holds as an explanation. While it may still be inconclusive, for the most part (my own unscientific opinion) is that laughter makes you feel better. It draws us together and throws down some of the barriers we put up at times.

If laughing a few times a day can ease the tension of a bad day or situation, then I'm all for it. I would rather feel good with laughter, than pain with sadness.

As Donald O'Conner sang in the movie "Singin In The Rain"; make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh.

Life of You

When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...
And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life.

~Monty Python's Life of Brian~

Each of us have had one of those days. Things just did not go the way you had planned. Heck, some of us have had one of those weeks, months or years.

Some of those unplanned tough times might even make you question if its all worth it. I wondered myself a couple of times although the thought of ending it all was never a serious thought. But I do know a few people whom have thought seriously of it. I have also known people whom actually carried it out; a sister in fact.

I would not be bold enough to know what truly enters a person's mind that makes them feel death is a better solution. But I do know that much of it comes down to feelings of self worth, of value to anyone else and of ending the pain of whatever they are going through.

Only a couple of times have I been placed in a situation to try and talk someone back from the edge. And not being a professional counselor, it was nerve wracking to say the least. Yet in my mind all I knew when speaking was that "YOU" are important. "YOU" do make a difference in the lives of others. "YOU" will get through this and achieve great things.

Is it as simple as Monty Python sang in "The Life of Brian", to always look on the bright side of life? In some ways it is that simple. I've been accused of oversimplifying things in my writing. My response is that many of us overcomplicate life.

Can looking "on the bright side" fix all of our problems? No, but it is a start. What is important is that the life of you is important. Whatever 'thing' you are going through, the existence of you has meaning. Be strong and push through. Search out the help of others. Put yourself amongst people that care for you. Remain enthralled by the beauty and wonder of life.

Wake Up

"If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up." ~J.M. Power

A friend of mine, David Spell recently wrote a great article titled A Season of Change that talks about setting goals.

Its a pretty darn good reflection as this year starts coming to an end and a new year is preparing to begin. What goals did we set this year and what goals are we preparing along with the new year?

I would confess that I'm better at setting work goals then I am for my own personal life. That probably sounds odd coming from someone that writes motivational articles. But I am no different then each of you. I need to remind, encourage and inspire myself to a great life.

That journey includes needing to set goals. As we age though, we tend to lose the ability to dream like a child. I don't mean dreaming childish dreams, but dreaming of the impossible like a child does.

If you dream the impossible, you also have to plan and prepare by setting goals to achieve those dreams. Whether the dream is large or small, dream like children, never grow out of that ability. Dream big things all of your life.

Then set goals to achieve those dreams. Prepare yourself because simply dreaming won't get you there. And then the only thing left to do is to WAKE UP and get moving.