 |
| Thanksgiving - Time To Shop For Christmas |
We convince ourselves that there is just no time like this weekend to buy everything our heart desires. Spending money we don't have, it all goes on the credit cards to pay off over the next year. Nothing would stop us from doing this because it is just too practical to not go out and buy things at discounted prices. The lure of the stores, the sounds of Christmas music and the fever of people lining up to get everything they can is too intoxicating for us.
We do recognize that this marks the season of the birthday of Jesus and we vow to keep Christ in Christmas, but please don't get in our way when the doors open at the stores on black friday. You most likely will be trampled, or have toys and items yanked from your hands. After all, to get the best deals, this is all worth it! Trampling people and fighting for deals is all part of the game. It is being human. It is survival of the fittest!
I could really keep going here with all kinds of sarcastic statements, but there is much truth to all of what I say. Yet, everyone acts as if it is the "other people" out there that do this and they fail to look at themselves in the mirror. The retailers have succeeded in establishing a day to buy gifts so you'll show your love to others and yourself. They have succeded in turning a holiday of peace, understanding, sharing and goodwill towards men into a display of greed, by all involved.
Is it wrong to want to get a good deal on something in a store? Nope! However, when you go overboard and feel like you have to buy thousands of dollars worth of products, than maybe you need to step back and evaluate your life? Balance in all things is good and it doesn't mean you don't get to enjoy life, but we need to understand where our heart and intent lies in all of this holiday drama. I find it amazing that we live in an economic structure where retailers become profitable 11 months into the year, only if people go out and buy like there is no tomorrow on black friday.
As a kid, we never got that much for Christmas. My parents struggled most of my life to buy a few gifts for me and my two brothers. I loved what we got and never really expected much! I'm still that way today. I don't expect anyone to do anything for me, but if they do, it touches me deeply. It isn't about the money spent.
I remember making things for my family members from a toy wooden tractor for my younger brother to paintings or picture and potholders for my mom to various other things. All of these things came from my heart, even if they were not always accepted. I remember the moments where in college I had very little money and I saved my pennies up all year long to buy gifts for Christmas. I had just enough money to buy each person in the family something small that they could really use. The response was anything but positive and it was stated in no uncertain terms which devastated me.
However, this time of the year, it should be about giving to others, not to buy their love or get something in return, but to give deeply from your heart. It is a time of peace, understanding and spreading love and cheer to the world. These sound like wonderful thoughts but I know the minute the doors open to the stores on Thanksgiving, the lovely thoughts will be pushed aside to make room for all the material things we need.
This year, the retailers have gone all out to get everyone in the Christmas mood early. Christmas music has been playing since Halloween in some and advertisements on TV have featured elements of Christmas for some time now. No longer do the retailers wait for Thanksgiving to start because they know that the sooner they get people in the buying spirit of Christmas, the more they will make. It is like watching sheep walk out to a pasture. Each sheep follows the next and has no idea what lies ahead. This year, the retailers will begin opening on Thanksgiving Day which I find disturbing to say the least. It won't be long before these stores will never close down.
My final thought today is that while you enjoy your Thanksgiving Day meal with your friends and family or whatever it is that you do, consider your place and role in the scheme of Christmas. Do you do what you do because it truly honors the spirit of Christmas or do you do what you do because everyone else does it and it feels like you should do it? You alone can answer that question honestly if you so desire. I'm not into telling people they should do this or that, but I do want people to think about why they do what they do. If we don't question why we do what we do, than we are really nothing more than robots, following prescribed actions in life.
Related Blog Posts
1) Christmas Music Piano (Nov 3, 2011)
2) Holiday Message From Tama Kieves (Dec 16, 2010)
3) Thanksgiving Stress (Nov 25, 2009)
Blog Post & Images (c) 11/24/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com
If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
Please ask for permission before reprinting this article. Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment
NOTICE:
LINKS IN COMMENTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED.
SEE COMMENT POLICY