The Spirit of Santa Claus
I believe in Santa Claus. Do I think there is an older man in a red suit going from house to house leaving presents under the tree for children? No, but I do think there is a spirit of him everywhere we go! The whole premise of Santa is to teach children to give. It's to teach us all to give. It's to encompass his spirit and make a little magic for people.
Santa's spirit isn't about receiving. It's not about presents. It's selfless behaviour. We can spend all our time at Christmas focused on what to get our friends and family, the best decorations, or the best Christmas cookie, but that isn't important. The importance of Christmas is love.
Your kids will still love you if you don't get them the perfect present. Your parents don't owe you any presents. Your friends owe you no presents.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Between November and December, I get sad that I am alone, that I don't have a special someone, I forget I have people who love me. I could live with my sadness, but I could take all the energy that I use to be sad and do something with it. I choose to make over 500 baked goods to hand out to people because it makes others happy. It reminds me of all the people I love. I started with Christmas cards, then I started baking, now I knit, bake, and write cards. Is it a little nuts? Sure, but I'd probably be in a much sadder place if I didn't make someone else happy at Christmas.
Families go without at Christmas. That breaks my heart. I am fortunate, I know it. It's not okay to ignore people who have needs they can't meet when I know I can help. You could go your whole life ignoring people who need. You could go your whole life without washing your armpits. It's going to get smelly though. I have a roof over my head and I can feed myself. So many cannot. If the spirit of Santa is giving and love, we have a lot of work to do. Stock some shelves with food or personal care goods, buy a hat, make a hat, write a letter saying how someone matters. Do good. Be good. Be nice. For there is someone who could use your help.
This Christmas, and all year-round, I urge you to help those who need a helping hand; to buy less gifts; to recycle the wrapping paper or completely forgo wrapping and use fabric bags you can re-use over and over again; to be kind to one another; and to show love even to the most unsuspecting person.
Remember Santa is watching. Would you make the naughty or nice list?
Thanks for reading, Samantha