At the risk of sounding cliche’, could I just ask? Is the whole world going mad?
Christmas is generally believed to bring out the best in people but in the last couple of days, my run-in’s with Grinch impersonators have been on the rise…from traffic to people I love to perfect strangers. Is it the stress of choosing the perfect gift? The economy? I can’t seem to explain it but I’ve developed what I consider to be a healthy attitude when coming across Grinchy, crabby, jerky people. I’ve decided that I’m just going to laugh about it. I absolutely refuse to allow their bad attitude to ruin my December ~ especially when there are too many awesome, happy people who negate the “December Downers”.
Instead of focusing on the impatient Starbucks barista who became annoyed by my friend not reciting her order quick enough (think Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode), I’d rather laugh with her about how cranky he was. Instead of wondering why on earth my parents sent me one correspondence all year that happened to be a Christmas card addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Gutierrez as though they were unaware of our first names, I’d rather just focus on how pleasantly surprised I was to once again get a Christmas card from my aunt (by marriage) that I have seen in person a grand total of 4 times in the last 20 years. Instead of losing sleep over why my family of origin is so completely dysfunctional, I will instead rejoice over the fact that my children will be home this Christmas because this is where they truly want to be. Rather than try to figure out the poor decisions and inflexibility of some, I would much rather think of the Total Apartment Makeover that a woman in my Thursday evening group is doing for another woman’s family just because she is demonstrating the love of Christ.
It would be easy to get pulled into the negativity and drama. I’ve been there; done that. The bottom line for me in December that I forgot to take note of in November is this ~ it’s their stuff. It’s not MY stuff to figure out and it’s not my stuff to fix.
I’m going to seek out and find the better stories of the holiday spirit…the stories of God working all around me. “Little” things like a busload of kids from a children’s home having a great time playing in the Youth Center last Saturday, “little” things like 2 weddings coming up for 2 special couples, “little” things like over 100 teenagers responding to an altar call last week, and “little” things a woman getting a new apartment furnished by the donations of friends and strangers alike.
I don’t have the patience for the petty disagreements or attitudes. I love watching The Grinch cartoon but the hearts of those whose hearts are 3 sizes too small…especially at Christmas….isn’t particularly entertaining.
My Christmas wish to the Grinch’s who are forgetting the reason for the season?….open your heart….let go of the bitterness and the need to be right….what’s the worst that could happen?
