Pick one thing

I started this blog back during harvest season at our small produce farm, and at the time I had at least a few things to say and pictures to show. Since then, time has been smaller, and ambition smaller still at times. Now, with the holiday season in full swing, I once again feel compelled to pick up the keyboard (not literally) and say a few words.

I have noticed more and more these past few years that the attitude toward Christmas and the holidays has been not-so-good with some family and friends for various reasons. To be sure, this time of year can be very busy, and with all the various expansions of family that have been created through marriages, divorces, re-marrying, etc... it is hard to schedule all of the people you need to see or buy for and so on. The economy this year certainly doesn't help, and has dragged some of these people down even further. A select few say they just don't like the holidays at all, and can't even think of one reason to like it and celebrate. I really have a hard time with that sort of negativity, as I've always enjoyed this time of year, and the magical feeling that is in the air.

So, I ask everyone, regardless of religious beliefs, or income, or stage in life, or health situation, please look at everything in your life and find that one thing. It doesn't have to be a huge thing, and you don't have to think of a hundred reasons, just pick that one thing to be grateful for, and latch onto it. Why be miserable during the time of year that is supposed to be wondrous and magical? If you can find just one thing to be happy for and go with that, you just may find that the holiday may go a bit better for you.

Here's a list of possibilities to start you out, kind of a Farmer's Cul-de-Sac search engine for you:



1. Do you like listening to or singing holiday music?


2. Do you enjoy the sight of the first snow blanketing the countryside in white? (not all the other daily January snowstorms, or the middle-of-April-holy-crap-will-winter-ever-end type of snowstorms)


3. Has it ever made you smile when you've received a gift from someone that you didn't expect
to, knowing that this person thinks enough of you to make this profound gesture?


4. Have you ever been so excited about a gift that you got someone, knowing how much it would
make them happy when they opened it?


5. Do you look forward to eating delicious foods, some of which only come out during the
holidays, like fruitcake for instance (well, maybe not fruitcake...)?


6. Has that special holiday moment ever happened where you sit back and savor your
surroundings and the contentment just then, and lock that memory away, knowing that
sort of moment just doesn't happen too often?


7. Do you enjoy the Victoria's Secret Christmas ads? Okay, just trying to be sure you're
awake! Just for the record, I think they're okay:):)


8. Have you ever gone to a holiday gathering dreading seeing one person or other and find out that they couldn't make if for some reason? Remember how the rest of the night just flew by, and how much you enjoyed yourself?


9. Do you enjoy sledding, singing, the smell of pine trees, the color red or green, thin mints, cherry cordials, eggnogg (spiked or not), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, snowball fights, the smile on a child's face when they see and then open their gifts, bacon (veggie or not), yankee swaps, wearing fancy clothes one time a year, The Grinch, the sight of holiday decorations on houses as you drive by, Christmas cartoons, going to church, not going to church, The Twelve Things at Christmas That Are Such a Pain to Me song, having a few days off paid from work, the word merry or happy.......



So you see? There are hundreds of examples of just one thing that could make you happy during the holiday season. Isn't it a whole lot easier to concentrate on that one good thing, instead of wasting all of your energy thinking of all those negative reasons why you don't like the holidays? Why not give it a shot, and pass this along to everybody, it just may help.

Remember, there shouldn't be all of this self-built pressure to do so much and spend so much. Let's have a simple good time, and enjoy some laughter and appreciate good health and the fact that we all made it through another year together. The season is about sharing and giving, but that giving need not be monetary in nature, as the best sort of giving rarely is. Finally, find at least one reason to be happy yourself. You'll be, well, happy you did!



Thanks for reading, and may you and yours have a truly happy holiday season!



-Dave