Living the spirit of Christmas

Tomorrow is December 1 thus, my daughter informs me, there are only 25 days until Christmas. Bah! Humbug!  Now don’t get me wrong – it isn’t that I don’t like Christmas. On the contrary – I love Christmas.

What I am not especially fond of is the “it’s sixty days until Christmas, start stocking up on presents so you can show your family how much you love them” mentality.

It’s not about advertising – advertising is not evil, you know that, I know that, we’ve had that conversation. It’s not about commercialising Christmas either – if your Christmas is commercial, it’s because you’ve allowed it to be.

It’s the “be nice to each other because it’s Christmas” I don’t like. “Show your staff/family/spouse/friends/neighbours how much you care because it’s Christmas”!

“Because it’s Christmas” is the words that get to me. Why wait for Christmas? Why not behave that way all the time?

I know, I know – I’m a new age geek. This is hardly news is it – so how about you hear me out since you’ve got this far anyway?

Celebrating Christmas is one of the greatest pleasures in life. For businesses it’s a time for thanking staff. For families a time of reunion. For children a time of excitement. All of those things are wonderful. 

Even though my children are all teens, or close enough to it to not tell the difference, I still get a kick out of watching them unwrap gifts. I’m not suggesting we forego any of those things or that we start giving gifts every day of the week.

I’m simply suggesting none of those things mean a thing if, when January rolls around, we go back to treating the world with disdain. How we behave on one day or in one week or even one month does not balance out how we behave the rest of the year. 

We owe it to our staff, our families and most importantly to ourselves to behave with integrity, compassion, and honesty at all times – not just the socially designated ones. Even Scrooge figured that out. Eventually!

On that note I shall cease to play the role of Ghost of Christmas Something-or-Other (this Christmas I really must read that book again) and leave you in peace. For now.