The Real and Ideal

Christmas time...is here....

Wow, can anyone beleive it? This time of year always seems to come so slow, and yet here it is, before any of us even realize it. I love Christmas 8>)

It's weird though, because people act different around the holiday season. Everyone is so stressed out, about presents and traffic, times and whos bringing what food to this get-together, etc. It's supposed to be a happy time of year, and people work to make it happy, but then they never really feel it. Is having this extra appitizer going to make my Christmas better, I wonder?

The strange part is that even though everyone is secretly stressed on the inside, they seem to know that this is the giving, happy season, so they still force a smile and say "Merry Christmas," even though inside they are worried about finding the perfect gift. It's nice having people smile. It's nice having them acknowldge eachother for once. It just seems so forced, just because it's Christmas. Hey, that's a great reason, but we should do that all year round, folks.

I really should only speak for myself and not the multitudes who I see at the stores. There are some people that still don't smile. And there are some people that flash those pearly whites at everyone they come in contact with. I dunno.

Personally, I would rather smile because I'm happy then because I feel obligated to. Obligation is like...doing it because you feel like you have to and not because you want to. That's probably not the definition in most peoples' books, but it is for me.

I don't think much of that made sense. I will try to sum it up- Christmas makes people stressed, but makes them act happier. It's pretty ironic, and probably not as it should be.

And what about the whole politically correct "Merry Christmas" thing? A Christmas tree is...a tree. Associated with the time of year. It has next to nothing to do with baby Jesus being born in a manger. How is it dissing other religions? I don't understand.

If someone said, "Happy Hanukkah" to me, I don't think I would be offended. By "I don't think" I only mean that it's never happened before, and therefore I don't know what I'd be feeling. But I don't think it's a bad idea to respect someones beleifs even if they are different then yours. I read a verse about that in the Bible the other day.

I don't really claim to have all of this right, or any of this right, but if everyone's religion speaks of peace and love, then why do they fight with eachother?

I was reading an article today in Newsweek about baby boomers, and about their "Make love, not war" philosophies during the Vietnam War. I found this interesting, because I just got done learning about the Vietnam War in school. But it got me thinking about how they seemed to grow out of there ideals, and how "Make love, not war" was only for the young people. Why don't adults think like this? Maybe they've just seen more, had more experience, etc that has caused them to be more pessimistic in their thinking. I dunno. Maybe I should take a psychology class.

Until then, I just hope that I will be able to think rationally and optimistically at the same time. If there is such a thing. I dunno.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! Remember the reason for the season... 8>))