Xmas Cheer
by Daniel R. Hirtler on 12/23/10
This isn't what you think.
Whereas I am the last person to be a booster of this time of the year, I think I might have a little bit of sunshine to cause to fall on this dark time.
Since I work for myself, I see this time of the year as something to be maneuvered through. If one has not set up enough to do during the time before Thanksgiving, it is likely that there will be nothing to do until after New Years. No one wants to think about starting a big new undertaking during the holidays. This is a problem if one does not have a buffer large enough to skate through that time. I don't have such a buffer, so this time is full of anxiety every year. The anxiety often eclipses the joy.
Life proceeds and no matter what the anxiety, one seems to always appear on the other side to continue onward. The challenge of the holidays is partly about seeing the joy in life, even in its uncertainty. Working with both thoughts simultaneously (this is a dark time / this is a time of light, recognizing the hard things while celebrating the wonderful ones), is the lesson of the season, which once internalized, makes one a richer person, fuller of humanity.
