Tis the season to overeat… Tis the season to overspend… Tis the season to reminisce… Tis the season to talk about new beginnings… Tis the season to make promises…Tis the season to break promises… Tis the season to leave the past behind… Tis the season to look at the future….
Its something about the holiday seasons that makes everyone so reflective and philosophical. Halloween starts the festivities leading to Thanksgiving and eventually Christmas and finally New Years. They are a literal countdown to the year’s end and for many the end of the year represents a time to both reflect as well as the opportunity to somehow start anew.
Let’s be real, it does not make any sense. The end of the calendar year, except for businesses and tax purposes, have nothing more than symbolic meaning. Our time for reflection needn’t be determined by the calendar. Declarations of change and resolutions to do better do not need to be reserved for the calendar new year. Yet, so many of us use the holiday season as a platform for change. Good luck with that.
The decision to improve and make change is a good one, no matter when or why it is made. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so dismissive of the holiday season and end of the year, reflectiveness. Like birthdays, the holiday seasons are the most real symbols of time passing. There is nothing more sobering than understanding another year has passed to cause reflection and an impetuous for change.
For some the holidays are the best time of year. They represent a time to spend with family and often bring out the best in people with gratitude and appreciation not only for their blessing but an increased empathy for those less fortunate.
For others, who have more complicated or dysfunctional familial relationships, tis the season to constantly remind them of that fact. The commercialism of the various holidays leave many struggling with crowds and the threat of debt to fulfill pressured obligations… because Hallmark and retail are that good to convince you of the obligations of gift giving.
I had very little growing up, but I had great holidays as a kid. My mother made sure of it. I have nothing against the holidays especially if they make someone happy or people nicer to each other. I guess its just the non-conformist in me that sees the commercialism for what it is. Yet, I genuinely wish happy holidays to all I see during the season. Any excuse to exchange pleasantries (especially for a normally laconic introvert) I welcome openly, because I generally realize that roughly by the 10th of January, people go back to their normal disconnected selves.
Tis the season… whether you like it or not. A reminder of another year gone and for some a realization that change is needed. It may be silly, but whatever it takes to come to the conclusion that more can be done to lead a happier, healthier more substantive life, than by all means try. Just remember that those times to reflect and make change are not restricted to the holiday season and the end of the year. In the meantime enjoy all that’s good about the holiday season…after all candied yams are generally not back on the menu for another 11 months.
#thanksgiving, #Christmas, #newyears, #Halloween, #holidays, #family, #resolutions, #diets, #reflection, #
