Christmas Blues

Today I want to try to address what I like to call the Christmas blues.  Do you ever find yourself getting down at Christmas time?  If you are a child, it might not be as big a problem as if you are an adult but I even heard my friend KS say something about it in her blog.

For the last couple of days this has been my struggle.  I know the holiday season is here and I really look forward to Christmas until it gets here.  Does that makes sense.  In some ways it doesn't to me.

See right now I should be happy.  I have direction in all the major areas of my life, work is going fine, I feel like I am growing as a father and as a friend.  I have opportunities every day to help other people and I am entering the holiday season but I find myself more and more these last few days struggling to really get excited about Christmas.  Now I want to continue to help people, I want to be around people, and I look forward to giving them gifts.  I recently discovered that I am really a people person. But I find myself looking forward to January 2nd more than almost any other day of the year.  Why?  Because the holidays will be over.  Don't get me wrong, I don't get ba humbug but I just don't get as excited about the rest for some reason.

Part of the reason I think the holiday season can be difficult is because of what seems to be important these days.  Everything seems to be about the commercial aspects of the season.  At Thanksgiving it was a big meal.  Now we turn to Christmas and it's all about getting and giving gifts.  The whole thing has gotten a little twisted.  Giving of gifts was the first thing that happened on the first Christmas.  God gave Jesus, his son, to the world so that the world could be eventually be brought back in to right relationship with him.  We all know that Jesus eventually gave himself for our sins on the cross but did you know that on the first Christmas he gave up being in Heaven where everything is perfect.  We know he gave it up for us but he gave it up for someone else.  He gave a Christmas gift of his life to his Father so that He could have right relationship with His creation.  I bet you never looked at it that way right.

So what's the common thread in the giving?  Neither God nor Jesus gave a financial gift to the world, the both gave something infinitely more special.  They gave Jesus to the world.  With God is was always about relationships.  That was what was on his mind the first Christmas.

Now don't misunderstand me, I think giving gifts is a very good thing to do but I think there is much more to the season than just stuff.  If you don't get what you want, it's OK because if you got anything, you should be thankful that someone was there to give it to you.  Again, it's about relationships.  If you are a parent that doesn't have enough money to give your child everything you want to, don't worry about it.  There is someone in your life for you to give to and that's really important.  If you don't have enough money to give everything you would like to people, remember this - even though you don't have a lot of money, you do have something to give.  Let me tell you about a few very special gifts that I know of.

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me about getting things for her family at Christmas.  She is a really nice lady but was working a job that didn't pay very much money so she didn't have a lot to spend.  I think she gave her parents a framed picture of her but she made some part of it.  I guarantee that her parents will cherish that gift so much more than a new car.  See, she put herself into the gift.  She gave part of something special.  She gave her a small part of her life to her parents.  If you are the person who I am talking about and you are reading this, I bet you never thought of it that way.  :-)

Another person I know gave her daughter a gift for her birthday.  She was the first person to receive the Box award.  Here is what the person who received the gift had to say:

     “My mother cant afford a lot and I don't ask anything of her. This year for my birthday I said no presents.. just let me cook you dinner. Mom surprised me with the newspaper clippings and cards that came from my actual birthday. This was the most rewarding birthday gift ever. It made me feel like she was truly proud of me. “

I will tell you of another gift that shocked me.  I few months ago, I wrote an Opinion of the Minion about my grandfather.  Now I didn't really think this was one of my best blogs but I put it out there to pay honor to TS Rawle.  What shocked me was the response I got.  I wrote that particular blog because it was what I felt.  Comments on Facebook and e-mails came in from all over the family and everyone was touched.  I couldn't physically give them all a hug but I was able to give them something.

Do you ever find yourself coming down with the Christmas blues?  Well you are not alone, most people have to battle it at some point in their lives.  But know this, as you focus on the true meaning of Christmas and what the real gifts are supposed to be, you will see things differently.  You definitely have something to give and people will really appreciate a gift that comes from the heart much more than one from the wallet.
Well, I have done it again.  I have blogged myself happy.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Believe in Yourself

Today I want to encourage you to give yourself a tremendous gift this Christmas season.  Believe in yourself.  That may seem pretty hard to do.  I know it is for me sometimes.  Now when it comes to what other people think, I guess I look pretty "successful" but there are times when I have trouble believing in myself.

There are going to be times in your life when this is a very difficult thing to do.  Especially during the holiday season, it can be easy to get depressed and down if you let yourself.  My friend, Kari already posted something in her blog about this and I will try to deal with it later myself.

The reality is that you have to believe in yourself if you want to be truly successful and happy in life.  It is very easy for me to believe in other people and their abilities.  Do you think you can write a book?  I believe you can.  Do you think you can go to school and get a degree?  I believe you can.  Do you think you can overcome being overweight or some other addiction?  I believe you can.  Do I believe I can do any of those things?  Yes on the last two and I am working on the first one.  Now especially when it comes to writing, I didn't really believe that I was a writer until recently.  I must say I enjoy the experience.

Did you know that you can have self confidence in one area and lack it in another?  I know I do.  My daughter gave me a great glimpse this weekend of what self confidence looks like.  We were sitting at breakfast eating donuts when a mom walked through the door carrying a baby.  Many times when we see a little child, I tell the kids that they were once that small and we all laugh.  The mother had her back to us and the baby was big enough that he was holding his head up and it was above mom's shoulder.  Before I could say anything to my daughter, she said, "I was that big once."  She beat me to the punch and I smiled.  Then she leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "But I was cuter."  She obviously has no problem believing that she is a cute kid.  She certainly gets plenty of confirmation from everyone about this fact and that's good.

For me, I used to be fat but now I am not.  I must admit that I struggle in this area a little.  I don't have a bad self image but if a woman shows interest in me (for all my friends, yes it does happen occasionally), I have a hard time believing it.  That's not to say that it is an every day occurrence by any stretch of the imagination but it's nice when it happens.

I struggle to understand why it is so easy for me to have confidence in some areas and lack confidence in others.  I think it's because I am human (as much as I hate to admit it sometimes).  However, you have to believe in you before anyone else will.  Before anyone ever told me they appreciated the Minion, thought, I had to believe that I could write and do it.  Before anyone told me that I could lose weight, I had to believe that I could and change my lifestyle.  Before anyone ever believed I could go through law school, I had to prove to myself that I could.  Do you see the common thread?  Also consider this, if I had never took action on my belief, I would never have gotten anywhere in any of these areas.

See, faith in yourself or in God without works is dead faith.  You cannot truly believe in yourself without taking action in a specific area.  If I really do think I am a good guy, I should ask a girl out.  If I don't believe in myself enough to ask, how can I expect her to say she will?  And if I never ask, we know for certain that she never will.  Also, let me leave you with one more thought on the subject.  Let's take dating because the illustration seems clear to me right now.  If you want to go out with a girl and you never ask her out, you will never go out with her.  However if you ask her, she might turn you down but she might actually go.  Don't be afraid to fail forward.

So what am I trying to tell you?  You must believe in yourself and you must do so before anyone else will.  We will truly know if you believe in yourself by your actions.  Until your believe motivates you to act, it isn't really faith, it's still just hope.  So what are your dreams today?  Believe in yourself and give yourself a chance for success by taking a chance.

That's another Opinion of the Minion