From observation, I think the excitement of Christmas is a giddy feeling we’ve felt at least once in our life. The common excitement of seeing lights on homes around your neighborhood, Christmas music blasting in the mall and on the radio, the smells of peppermint and gingerbread and pine (even if you don’t like either of those things the smell somehow speaks to you). Other than the sights, the smells, and the sounds, taste is a major importance of Christmas. Pillsbury’s sugar cookies we can’t wait for, or being able to have an excuse to always drink hot chocolate-even if you live in Florida, and wearing your tacky Christmas gear whether it be the Goodwill sweatshirts, or the onesies and fuzzy sock combo. I feel warm inside even in winter.
But, we age and the more we age it seems like things just become more stressful and less fun. Being in college, the Christmas feeling is kind of ironic because we’re trying so hard to remember that Christmas spirit we had during youth and truthfully after Thanksgiving, before finals. During finals we seem to forget who we are, the entirety of our life diminishes because we are stuck in a rut of studying and drinking coffee like never before. Even if its not finals, whether it may be work stress or really the overall stress of life’s craziest moments, we have to remember something. Love.
Love is all around us-sounds like a line from Love Actually, especially during the holidays in any language love is love. I feel like it’s important to remember the people who have been there for us in the midst of it all, the loved ones you don’t tell enough how much you cherish them, strangers even. Anytime is the best time to be a good person but something about the holidays just creates a type of “Christmas miracle”. I know that love and similarity exist among us because it’s not the lights or decorations in the house that remind me, it’s the tree in the window all lit up at night. That everyone has hope for a present or for a new beginning or for a sign, and the holidays are what is all about.
Instead of reminding yourself that you’re not in the Christmas spirit, remind yourself how special it is to be alive, and to be loved by the people in your life. It’s not about the gifts this Christmas, its really about the love. I think we can all say that 2016 has been a year of drastic changes, and loss, and laughter, and tears for the entire world. With everything that’s happened, this holiday season we really need to come together.
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