What's It About?

So what IS Christmas all about? Sure, there's the gifts, and the tree, and the feasting, drinking and having a great time with family and friends... and many will say it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus ... but really, what has Christmas become?

What do people do at this time of year?

What do you do?

Do you eat and drink yourself into a stupor and hope to recover in time to go back to work or school?

Do you get stressed out because you want everything to be perfect and everyone to get along?

Do you eagerly await gift-opening time?

Did you answer yes to some or All of the above? Most people living in a relatively wealthy part of the world would. Although the Holiday season is also one of the most difficult and depressing times of the year for many. They may remember others who have passed on, or dread being around certain family members, or feel horrible because they have no one "special" to share these experiences with. Or, they may have no home to celebrate in, no food and drink to celebrate with and seemingly nothing to celebrate. And hearing others live well and celebrate when you are suffering deeply is very difficult.

So what? What can I do about it, right? I'd rather not think about that because it makes me feel bad and I can't do anything about it anyway. Right?

Or maybe you're saying to yourself, "I know I should do something to help, but I don't know what and thinking about it just makes me feel bad so I don't".

Sound... or feel familiar?

Thought so. We all want to feel great and be happy. We don't want to feel bad. We tend to feel bad when we become aware of others suffering and even worse when we feel we can't do anything to help them. So what do we do? We block it. We push away those thoughts. We hide them. We change the channel.

Don't worry. I won't tell you to donate money, clothing, food, or volunteer somewhere. If you feel inspired, go ahead and do those things. If not, don't worry about it. I also won't tell you to stop drinking, feasting, buying gifts and celebrating outrageously. Celebrating and feeling deep gratitude is essential for living an extraordinary life.

The extra secret element to this equation is CONTRIBUTION.

Find a way to contribute to society in some way. It will make you feel better and hopefully improve the world... even just a little bit.

Here's a simple example:

Smile.

Smile to everyone you meet. Smile to yourself in the mirror (I do that all the time and usually end up laughing at myself!). Smile and mean it. Think about just one thing you are grateful for today and smile. Or do something silly. Feel the smile in your face. It will brighten up your entire physiology and that of everyone you meet (if they are open to it). Just smile on everyone and everything without cause, just like the Sun shines its light everywhere.

Brighten up someone's day and feel grateful that you could shine a little more light in the world. And if you get the idea to do more, go right ahead!

Christmas may have started as a pagan festival that was then taken over by the Christian Church and implanted with Scandinavian and Dutch folklore coming from ancient stories of a Saint from Turkey...which has continued to transform into it's present day over-spending and over-indulging emotional roller-coaster fest... but that doesn't mean that we can't continue to transform it into something really special. Hehe. Personally, I think any type of celebration is a great time for expressing gratitude and finding ways to contribute to the healthy evolution of this planet.

Let's make this world a better place, one tiny action at a time.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin

If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my name (Charles Begin) and website (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!