Happy Holidays

A few years ago, I lost my grandmother the day after Christmas.

Happy Holidays, by the way. I promise this has a more positive point. I just couldn’t come up with a tactful way to get past this detail, so I settled on blunt.

I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m not aiming to depress you, I swear.

Anyway, the day after Christmas, my grandmother died. And here’s the simple, and albeit corny, lesson that taught me: every moment counts.

And when those moments are gone, all we’ll have left are our memories of how we lived them.

Now I know there are people for whom seeing family at the holidays is hard. You’d rather do anything, including repeatedly sticking your finger into a light socket, than be in the same room with Old Aunt Millie for five minutes. And I get that. Totally. But here’s my point (see, it didn’t take me long to get there):

If the holidays are hard, and hanging out with family is something you dread, remember that you’ll go back to your life soon, and that this time isn’t forever. You have your own world. It’s yours, it’ll be there for you when the holidays are over, and all that’ll remain are the memories of how people acted, and how you acted in return.

And if the holidays are great, and hanging out with family is something you look forward to, don’t let yourself lose sight of how much those people mean, even for a second. It’s a gift, the time we have with those we love, and the memory of how we spent it is all we get to keep when it’s done.

Either way, this time is temporary. Love it or hate it, it’s temporary.

Live it in a way you’ll be proud to look back on.

 

*****

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF COMMENTS:

Here’s the thing: we’re all different. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t. And that’s fine. But there’s also more than enough nasty in the world, and not nearly enough kindness and respect. We play nice here.