With all the world seemingly at wits end I pray that the light of faith, hope and spirit burns brightly within in you during this amazing time of Christmas.
I think the moment anyone loses any of those three things, life can turn sour. If you realize you have less on your wish list in 2014 that is an amazing thing. It means that you see the light in yourself and in everybody around you, which in turn means you don’t need a whole lot of material items this Christmas season.
I have come to realize watching my elderly grandmother falter (she is on the rebound by the way) this fall; my father tough it out each day; Vic and my mom being the glue that holds all of our lives together that it is those who have your back that make the holiday season extra special.
The reason I’m writing this is because watching your elders rapidly age gets tougher as we continue to be active in our own lives. Cherishing them this holiday season is extremely important simply because we don’t know if they will be around next time this year.
It puts into perspective what this time of year is about even more.
While getting gifts from and giving gifts to the ones you love after another year of surviving truly feels amazing, Yet, I am elated with just their presence whether physically next to me or in my heart and that is all I could wish for at this young stage of life.
Many yearn for homes; for families; for jobs; for a reason to live at this time of year. I would go insofar as to say many hope that faith will find them as well. I believe the Good Lord will help them get there. In this special time we should be able to support them as well which might make us think less about our own wish list and actually more happy.
Most of the time we get unhappy if our personal wish lists fall short, but in 2014 happiness should come from within and feed off those around us. There is a way to be happy I truly feel that way! I hope you do too! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night 🙂
The Writings of Alex Garrett 
Very nice! Exactly how I feel
I think you hit the nail right on the head. We must take advantage of those moments when we are with those who mean the most to us because tommorow is not guaranteed. We should make the most of every encounter and share our love and truth as much as we can because we do not know when our next chance will be.
A high school classmate of mine committed suicide almost 2 years ago. We had been close growing up, but parted ways eventually as we started to run in different circles. I always thought of him as a friend even though we probably hadn’t spoken in 10 years.
I saw him 1 last time in 2011 on the street in NY. He was smoking a cigarette and wearing an all black suit on his way to the plaza hotel for an event. I was headed to central park for a concert. I ran to get to him to say hello. The conversation was brief, and he seemed distant. Almost impossible to believe we had been good friends when we were younger. He seemed so different from the young, caring and vibrant young man I knew from elementary school to high school. He seemed aloof and a bit detached. We said our good byes and parted ways. I ignored it and figured I would see him again at our 10 year high school reunion.
And as always in NY, I went on with my life busied with a million other things and forgot about the encounter within the next hour.
The next time I thought about him was 2 years later. I had a very powerful dream about him where he hugged me and was laughing with me. I could feel the love emanating from him to me, in such a powerful way that it woke me up from my sleep and the imagery stayed with me for a week after words. 2 months later I heard through social media that he had taken his own life.
I cried like a baby for days and felt so terrible that I had not tried to get in touch over the years. That I had just let him drift away and became indifferent.
I think that this experience has taught me a lot. But mostly, the real lesson for me is that there is no such thing as tomorow and there is no such thing as yesterday. There is only the now. Now is all that we are guaranteed ever. So we should do our best to make the most of it and appreciate what we have in the present.
Thanks for sharing.