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Ah, Christmastime.
Cookies and milk, men in red suits with big black buckled belts, big flying hot blooded animals with horns … pine needles that stick up through the carpet and get you right in the arch of your bare foot.
That’s kind of like what this year has been like. When you look back on it, it’s got its pretty moments but it sure was a pain in the …
Though it’s nice to be on the receiving end of a gift or two, the holiday season really is all about doing the giving.
We don’t trudge through the slush for hours after we’ve finished a long day at work, pushing through crowds of completely moronic shoppers looking for toys, appliances, gadgets and movies, sweaters and more because our time is not needed elsewhere.
We don’t spend countless hours staring at the red scarf and the plaid scarf trying to figure out if our Aunt What’s Her Name on His Side of the Family even needs a scarf, because she’s our favorite relative.
And we don’t risk all our sanity and mental health trying to figure out how to get the corners of the wrapping paper evenly folded whilst trying to wrap something that seems ordinary enough – a travel coffee mug for instance – because we feel we need more challenges in life.
We do it because it feels good to give of ourselves.
In life, we sometimes give to the wrong people. Too much of our time, too much of ourselves, too much. Sometimes we give the wrong thing. We give unconditional love, when we should be giving tough love. Understanding when we should question. Judgment when we should just listen.
Politicians love to give so much they’ve given their integrity, their focus and just about everything else away.
So the holidays – be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Solstice is the one time of year that we don’t have to worry about what we give. We can just give a scarf. Or a tie. Or a do-it-yourself cheeseball kit.
With so much turmoil in the world, it is important to remember that every day we get is a gift.
And as the year comes to a close and with it the first decade of the millennium, there are a lot of reasons for us to remind ourselves of that. It could have been a lot worse.
Just think …
Obama/Biden versus Republican presidential candidate team Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck.
Jon and Kate Gosselin could have been devout Catholics who don’t believe in divorce. (If I could leave something for those kids under the tree this year, it’d be an official emancipation and sole custody to the Super Nanny).
Millions of teenage girls all over the world could be obsessed with Tiger Woods instead of teenage vampires. Not likely, but then again …
Just think…… the state legislature could be our federal government.
The federal government could be our state legislature.
We could be living in Iran. Or Iraq. Or North Korea.
We could be worse off than we are. But in a lot of cases, that’s how it is for a lot of our fellow Americans. And our own neighbors. Struggling to make it through hard times.
When you think about it, before anything can be gotten, it has to be given. With that in mind, tomorrow, as you curl up with your loved ones, a mug of something warm and look at all those beautifully wrapped packages under the tree, think about what you can do to give.
A pat on the back, a helping hand, a little bit of your time to those who need it. A gift here and there. Hold your family close and keep the idea of giving unto others something you do all year long in what every way suits you.
Because it’s not a bad habit to have. Even if, sometimes, we give a little too much. The important thing is that we give as much as we can.
Jessica Sieff is a reporter for the Niles Daily Star. Reach her at
jessica.sieff@leaderpub.com.