Healthy Lifestyles Spirit of Christmas

At times during the year we may have felt the days dragging by too slow and thought Christmas was far away, then all of a sudden it is upon us and another year in our lives comes to an end in just a few days.

In the Spirit of Christmas people will wish each other seasons greetings continuing the biblical ‘Peace on Earth Goodwill Toward Men’ theme, however, in some parts of the world peace and goodwill may seem a far off dream or forlorn hope.

Those of us living in relative comfort with healthy lifestyles need to spare a thought for the less fortunate around us.

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself…
~Norman Wesley Brooks, “Let Every Day Be Christmas,” 1976

As we celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways, wherever we may be in the world, most of us find the festival as compelling as ever. Its timeless magnetism stems from a powerful, renewable virtue that is essential to the human heart – hope.

For 2000 years, the rebirth of hope inherent in the Christmas story has spilled out in abundance to those who have embraced entirely different religious creeds, or none.

Its promise of a better world manifests itself in the greater tolerance and acts of kindness synonymous with this time of year, which tends to draw out the best – and occasionally the worst – in human nature.

In the 10th century, according to legend, Good King Wenceslas brought the Christmas spirit alive with his generosity to his poorer subjects in his dukedom of Bohemia. In the Victorian era, Charles Dickens captured the contradictions of the season in A Christmas Carol, a classic story being rediscovered by a new generation through an animated film.

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time;
a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year,
when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think
of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another
race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens

Our modern world surely needs a season of goodwill.

As the terrorism and disasters that marred the first, eventful decade of the 21st century show, our modern, hi-tech world needs a season of goodwill every bit as much as societies of the past. Parts of the world are still locked in combat and conflict, other areas suffer natural disasters, and the western world has its continuing economic meltdown.

On Christmas Day will we say our cup is half full or half empty?

Spirit of Christmas

When Christmas is here what will it bring?
Loving hugs and smiles from hearts that sing!
Sadly the spirit of Christmas is sometimes lost.
When we’re caught up in the commercial cost.

Today I send you all Christmas cheer
Carols like Jingle Bells ring loud and clear
When friends gather to share together
All that’s brightest, no matter the weather.

I remember the Christmas stories told
The happiest smiles of young and old
I remember the Christmas carols we sang
To the melodious Church bells that rang

I remember the Christmas my mother cried,
I remember the Christmas my father died,
I remember when we learned on Christmas Eve
that it’s much sweeter to give than to receive.

So today I send you all joyful festive cheer
Although far away these rhymes bring you near
Hold your friends and family with love today
Then through the year Christmas joy will stay.

May this festive season be a time of peace and tranquility for you as you share with family and friends. May you also find time to reflect on your achievements of the past year and prepare for even greater achievements in the year ahead. Let 2012 be a year of progress in whatever goals you set for yourself to enhance your healthy lifestyle.

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.
~Roy L. Smith

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall,
the genial flame of charity in the heart. ~Washington Irving

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time.
Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? ~G.K. Chesterton

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church;
the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing
each other on the street would say ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!’ ~Dave Barry, “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide”

Remember
This December,
That love weighs more than gold!
~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness
and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year.
And thus I drift along into the holidays – let them overtake me unexpectedly – waking up some fine morning
and suddenly saying to myself: “Why, this is Christmas Day!” ~David Grayson

Tagged with: Christmas • Christmas Carol • festive season • goodwill • healthy lifestyles • peace on earth

Filed under: Health • Wisdom

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