"Pre-Christmas Depression"
By: Bryan Woods
December 24th, 2007;
I was extremely depressed this day. My two older children had moved away from home and were going to visit their spouses family's first on Christmas. It was just going to be my son and wife Christmas
morning.
Where did the time go...it seemed that Christmas just wasn't going to be worth celebrating this year with all of the kids gone. I imagined it wouldn't be very long before my son would be gone too, and my wife
and I would be all alone for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, we don't (under normal circumstances) suffer from Empty Nest Syndrome, but Christmas seemed to be different. What was the use in celebrating
Christmas without kids?
"If I had enough money I could pay for another ski trip for everyone to Colorado. That would get us all together" I thought.
Luckily someone reminded me what the Reason for the Season was (thanks Sis).
It's easy to loose sight of the reason we celebrate the holiday. Lack of money seems to be one of the biggest problems we suffer this time of year. "If only I had more money" we say..."I could do so much
more and everyone would be happy".
We all tend to really believe that money will solve all of our problems.
The truth is however, that our happiness should have nothing to do with what we possess (materialistically speaking).
After all...the reality is...I have two good daughters that have married and brought me grandchildren. They and their husbands support themselves and while they all struggle a little, they get by on their own.
My son is going to college (and buys his own books) and works full time and pays his own bills.
Their all good kids.
My bills are paid.
I have a good job.
I'm married to the same woman for 27 years now, who still loves me and is my best friend.
I'm not a rich man (monetarily speaking), but I am wealthy.
This is a time of change for my wife and I and it's not all bad. We enjoy our time alone with each other. Things will continue to change and I'm sure we'll continue to change with the times.
I guess it's all in the way we perceive whats actually going on around us that shapes our lives.
What happened on Christmas day?
The wife and I slept late that morning for the first time in 25 years.
When we finally did wake up, we laid in bed together for over an hour and just talked, the we got up and had coffee.
I ended up cooking almost the entire meal with help from my son. The girls arrived around 11:30 AM and we all opened presents. We had and awesome dinner by 2:00 PM and the girls went to their other
families homes and my wife fell asleep on the couch. I carried her to the bedroom and put her in bed and shortly after that my mother in law left too.
I spent the next 2 hours putting up the left overs and cleaning the kitchen (this is not something I usually do).
When I finished, I sat down on the couch and had a cup of coffee and just relaxed. Usually my wife does all of the work...all of the time, but this Christmas I did something different...I served others, and it felt
good.
Imagine that...Christmas day and I served someone other than myself. It was almost Christlike.
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