Merry Christmas
At the risk of being "politically incorrect," I want to wish all
of you a most Merry Christmas. You do not have to be Christian
(I am not) to have a merry and happy Christmas season. I
absolutely love this time of year.
But, for those of you who may be rolling your eyes into the back
of your skulls, I'll also wish all of you Happy Holidays. ;-)
To get a bit more serious here, I received a letter from a
friend just a few days ago. She has a hard time during the
December holiday season.
Here is an excerpt from her letter:
Could you do a newsletter on how to make the holidays easier for
those of us who feel utterly alone? I've really been struggling
with this last week. I have nice plans, but . . . I have such a
yearning to be a part of a permanent family group. Even though
my family was dysfunctional in some ways, we cared about each
other too. There was a familiarity about those family
Christmases of long ago that tears my heart out when I think of
them. Especially the Christmases with my grandparents. It's
gotten me feeling most melancholy.
And here's Chief Joseph.
Chief Joseph
This time of year is, for many of you, a mixed blessing, if you
will.
For those of you who celebrate Christmas -- or any other special
holiday -- you sometimes find yourselves torn and tossed, and in
turmoil.
The holiday, the celebration -- whether it be Christmas or any
other special time for you -- often reminds you of the joy of
life. Celebrations are all about joy, about honoring your lives
and all those loved ones with whom you share your lives.
But, most importantly, your celebrations are about you -- and
your appreciation and love for yourself.
Now, you might ask, "What does that mean, Joseph?"
Well, friends, it means this: If you cannot celebrate the
miracle that is you first, then you will often find little joy
or reason to celebrate Christmas -- or any other holidays.
It all begins with you. Your ability to love, appreciate, and
celebrate yourself is the key here. If you can do that, you will
never feel lonely or joyless. We realize the holidays, whether
they be Christmas or any other days special to you, often bring
out the "worst," if you will, in you.
Often, the reason for that is you are remembering past holidays,
past celebrations. They may or may not have been as perfect as
you remember them. But they have almost always involved other
people you love and care about.
And so, given that, you find yourself yearning for the "good old
days."
Friends, those "good old days" are now. Today and tomorrow are
the good old days you will remember next year, and ten years or
more from now.
Our point here is this: Your joy, your happiness, your peace
depend only on you. And only on how you feel about you.
If you feel good about you, you don't need anyone else, anything
else in your life to feel good -- whether at Christmas or any
other time.
You are all you need.
We are not saying it is not good to connect with others -- to be
joyous co-creators in this joyous experience of life on Planet
Earth.
You did not come here to be alone -- at least most of you did
not. You came here to be joyful individual creators -- but also
to be joyful co-creators.
But you can be neither a good individual creator nor a good
co-creator unless you first acknowledge and feel your own power.
You can stand alone in the immense power you have as one single
individual.
And in that power, once you've acknowledged and owned it, you
will be forever joyful.
You will never again feel alone or lonely. You will live fully
in every present moment with a deep sense of joy.
And that's what Christmas, or any other holiday, is all about,
isn't it? That's what life is all about.
Be joyful. Be joy. Celebrate every day of your life as if it was
Christmas. Celebrate yourself. Celebrate everything and everyone
in your life. It's all good!
Merry Christmas!
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