That is one part of me. The other part of me approaches the holiday with sorrow and hurt for those who are hurting. Christmas seems to be either the most wonderful holiday or the worst day that ever existed for so many.
I'm not a scrooge. I love Christmas, but it seems so unfair to celebrate what is happy in your life and ignore the pain in someone Else's life.
Two years ago I got a tiny taste of that pain. I felt anything, but happy as I cried through a Christmas movie one evening in December. Just hours earlier my uncle had gone home for Christmas. We rejoiced and mourned in a crazy mix of emotions. I skipped out on school not to go home and celebrate Christmas earlier, but to go to a funeral. All during the Christmas break the death of another relative was fast approaching and that year it was hard to celebrate.
I got that tiny taste of the pain. Just a small taste. Not a big gulp of bitterness and heart wrenching sobs that so many go through. Christmas is a beautiful time, but it can so easily be ugly.
Christmas is a lot about feeling. Happy fuzzy feelings that come from hearing Christmas tunes on the radio. Sappy feelings from watching all those horribly cheesy but oh so fun Christmas flicks. Feelings of warmth from seeing the Christmas lights twinkle on the tree. Feelings of tradition when you eat your favorite Christmas treat. Feelings are wonderful, but there are those who have the feeling of not even wanting to go the store for fear of seeing one more Christmas item that will remind them of pain. They will not feel like getting out of bed. Maybe the only reason they will put on the tree is for the sake of small children, not for the sake of the their own feels that are all too dismal.
We celebrate Christmas by giving and so what is it we can give to the hurting? Maybe its not saying anything, but simply being there. Maybe its only a quiet act of kindness, but there are some things that can change a whole person's day just because you did something.
Celebrate Christmas, but remember what it is and why it sometimes bothers people.
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