Holiday Season

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” 

― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Peace and Joy!

All I can think of this season. Remember the days when you made your Christmas list? All of the favorite things you saw on the commercials that you needed to make your life complete. Hoping Santa would read that list and at least bring a few of the items you dreamed of. And of course, a couple of big surprises were also necessary to make that Christmas morning complete.

As time goes by and the December flurry of shopping, decorating, wrapping of gifts begins, it is interesting to feel the difference of seeing the season as a time to celebrate your gifts that are in your life instead of dreaming of a list of packages to open on Christmas day morning. How many gifts do you get to experience every day? Who makes your life feel like you have been given a present that you had dreamed of Santa bringing? I thought of this today and realized that peace and joy seems to be what runs through all of my thoughts. Peace in my heart, peace on earth, peace in the hopes that good is going to outweigh the bad.

Then I took a quick recap of what my 2016 gifts included. And it became as simple as looking back at my lunch on Friday. And my 2016 gift that topped my list is laughter. I have a group of people in my every day that I can truly sit and laugh with. Most recently, my lunch hour has been filled with the silliest of lighthearted conversations. How can it be that laughter is the gift that can bring you so much joy? And if that is what Christmas is, my season is complete. The laughter begins with that smile, a circle of friends and the freedom to just burst into the rip roaring giggles that fill the air and your heart with that one and only feeling of joy.  

Maybe your joy is different and maybe it comes in a different form. But, joy is top of the list for me this year. The light of heart that lets you feel the gift of joy. Seeing friends and family and really sharing some time together. Laughing, talking and maybe just being in the same room together. Joy. Three letters. Pretty simply. Find more, share more, seek more – joy!!!  ‘Tis the season.