If you look at the positive, the thing with having a birthday on Christmas day means you enjoy twice the magic and receive twice the wishes. With a nameday on the same day as well, it all triples.
Sure, there’s the downside that not many remember this special instance amidst the global celebrations, but that makes those who do all the more special and the wishes you do receive become all the more valuable.
Birthdays are exciting nonetheless, because you get to celebrate life and all its wonders with the people who truly wish the best for you. And at the end of the day you realise that they are indeed many; it costs nothing to be kind and loving – it is even returned double (or triple) its value.
Thank you for the birthday wishes; it makes the day all the more magical!
We usually keep so busy – often too stressed and worried about everything – that we neglect to see how life passes by. We convince ourselves we’re fine and we’re having fun, but how many weeks of the year are we truly enjoying every day and not simply the weekends or those ‘days off’?
How many times have you found yourself going to bed stressed and waking up equally anguished?
We don’t relax because the moment we do, we most likely fall asleep.
As a person who more often than not falls asleep during movies – particularly when watching them in the comfort of a home, tucked up under a fuzzy blanket on a couch – I can unabashedly say that I can count the films I’ve seen in one go (or in their entirety) on the fingers of one hand.
Tiredness is not only physical exhaustion. It arises from not doing what you’re passionate about and what makes you feel good. Toxic relations are not only personal ones, they’re also professional and social ones.
The good thing is we usually get to choose the energy and time we devote to people and things.
The bad news is that we often make the wrong choices out of fear of disappointing others or of missing out if we say ‘no’.
But the thing about a choice is that it is ultimately a personal decision. And enriched and enlightened with another year’s worth of experiences, perhaps this time round we will manage to live more and stress less.
Merry Christmas everybody. Keep calm and enjoy the festivities.
“Going back is not change. Remember that. The only way to act differently is by moving forward”.
The Santa at the mall was unlike any other. He seemed wiser and emitted a kindness that even grown-ups wanted to go to him for advice.
Sally was standing almost right in front of him gazing at the children running up to him for a photo moment. She loved everything about this season – the pure innocence, the constant joy, the sparkling decorations. But mostly she delighted with the feeling of love that certain instances inspired. This was one of them.
Santa saw her and prompted her to come over. She blushed and refused to move. Santa was young; his eyes betrayed him. And he seemed handsome. That too was a factor that made Sally hesitate to move toward him. Was she supposed to sit on his lap?
He stood up and nudged her to approach. She wavered for a while then pranced toward his sleigh.
He asked her her name as if she was a little child coming to request her present.
He smiled and his eyes twinkled. She blushed (again).
“What is your wish for Christmas?” he asked, staying loyal to his part.
“I want things to change. I want to go back to being happy and loved,” she said with a flicker of sadness.
“Going back is not change. Remember that. The only way to act differently is by moving forward,” he told her staring into her eyes.
She felt her heart skip a beat. Both at the wisdom that was just bestowed upon her and by the aura of this man who she would not recognise without his white wig and beard.
“There’s something better out there for you. You just have to have the courage to look forward instead of back.”
A small girl was tugging at her dress calling her to move so she could get Santa’s attention.
Santa took Sally’s hand without losing contact with her eyes. She felt his warm touch like a fleece blanket being wrapped around her. He craftily passed her a note on the inside of her palm, smiled softly, and sat down to continue his role-playing.
“Sometimes you get more than what you wish for,” the note said. She looked back at him and saw him wink. She smiled brightly and recalled what she had just read that morning: “Serendipity is simply fate finding its way”.
What she loved most about the festive season was the lights. The way cities in their entirety were illuminated by decorated lanterns and lamp posts of all sorts. Even the darkest of neighbourhoods rejuvenated during this time. It served as a reminder that even in the shadows, there will always be a light that will shine as brightly as you ignite it.
She loved to walk under the decorated trees wrapped in festive lights, tightening her woollen shawl around her neck as the ice-cold air howled before entering cosy cafes adorned with candles for a warm drink by the fire.
With less than two weeks to Santa’s arrival, people start asking what each other wants for Christmas. As cliché as it sounds, as you increase your time in this life, all you really want is things money can’t buy.
Peace is one of them; peace of mind, above all. Because when you’re calm, you gain strength and courage to do anything. Tranquillity is achieved when you can go to bed at night without any worries and wake up the next day without any frustration. In this chaotic lifestyle, most of us lead, that is something extremely rare.
We’re constantly thinking about something. And during those extraordinary moments when we allow our minds to drift, some bizarre thing is bound to happen to disrupt the phenomenal calmness and quiet.
Let’s face it: there’s always something to keep us busy and concerned. But we’re supposed to regulate that. We’re supposed to manage what we devote our time and mostly our energy to. We’re responsible for our own peace.
So even if you do write to Santa to bring you something, make sure to ask for something magical and believe that the best things are indeed on the way.
People with birthdays on (or around) Christmas day, feel “the most wonderful time of the year” all the more deeply. Because it is. When every day you have to celebrate is cramped into one, you’re going to be jolly about it. There’s nothing much else you can do, so you might as well enjoy it.
But the fact that there are lights all around and glossy decorations hanging almost everywhere, makes this season truly blissful. You somehow forget your troubles for a while; long enough to appreciate and be grateful for everything you do have instead.
It’s during this exact period when everyone who acts otherwise is seen as a ‘Scrooge’; those who still prefer to focus on everything that’s going wrong, who highlight the negative and bad, instead of focusing on the good that is there. Whatever you give your attention to, that will be what will bloom. We tend to forget that.
Wouldn’t it be lovelier if instead of all that jeer, we made an effort to spread cheer?
We should smile more. During this season, too.
“Every little smile can touch somebody’s heart. No one is born happy. But all of us are born with the ability to create happiness.”
Do you know why we use fireworks, sparkles and bangs to welcome the New Year? It stems from centuries-old traditions that sound and light made evil spirits afraid and were thus used to ward off evil.
We too hope that by filling the final month of the year and the subsequent first of the new one with lights and glitter will help bring luck, fortune, prosperity, health and blessings to our life.
Have you noticed how we light up inside and the world seems happier with all the festive decorations during the Christmas and New Year season?
We don’t need much to be happy and bloom. But we often forget that we are the creators of our well-being and happiness.
So let’s make a resolution this year to keep ourselves as happy as we begin the new months, to spread love just as we wish to receive it, and to keep the hope alive that everything will work out for the best with new adventures lying ahead.
He was Santa’s favourite gnome. And the only one the reindeer responded to. Perhaps because he sneaked extra carrots to them when no one was watching. And he listened when they complained they were being overworked.
So, when two days before the big job the reindeer protested and organised a strike, the gnome was the one who was urgently called to resolve the solution.
The reindeer had a list of demands, which included lighter reins, more food, and greater petting time.
The gnome listened carefully and took note. He promised Santa would compromise and fed each with a carrot marshmallow to lighten their mood. He vowed they would get an entire month of rest after the job was completed and that they could choose their relaxation destination themselves.
The reindeer conceded. The gnome was a good negotiator.
So all was resolved. The reindeer were content, the gnome was satisfied with a job well done and Santa was ready – he was actually so pleased he gave the gnome a promotion to Reindeer Counsellor.
Santa’s little helper was a cute elf, a bit shorter than average but compensating for it as a hard- and quick worker. He was the elf everyone turned to to get anything done. He was organised, punctual and disciplined. And also found it very hard to refuse anything assigned. His elfies kept telling him that it was a mistake not to be able to set boundaries. But he thought it would be rude to turn down someone for a job he could easily do. The little helper failed to see that it was a matter of mental health to set limits to himself and others regardless of how quick and easy anything may seem to him.
Life appeared to pass seamlessly for the little elf. Until one day. That day when everyone suddenly wanted something from him, and they needed it asap, meaning yesterday. The little helper was overwhelmed, overstressed, and overagitated. Like a pressure cooker steaming, it didn’t take long before he erupted. And before the day was over, the good little elf turned bad. He was yelling and refusing to do absolutely anything, finally expressing the feeling that he was being seen as a push-over and was expected to do anything and everything simply because he thought it rude to say no.
The situation was resolved only when Santa took his little helper on a sleigh ride with Rudolph to calm him down. A flight over a starry sky always helps. The elf finally sincerely said what he felt about the way he was treated. Santa was understanding and promised things would improve.
It is a very thin line between accepting everything and nothing, but often the reaction when we overcome the boundaries we fail to set can be eruptive.
As a Christmas birthday child, this season is magical for so many reasons. Mainly because it’s filled with hope, anticipation, laughter, cheer, love, and so much joy. It’s the period when it’s OK to act like a child and feel like one too. Perhaps more so than children themselves. We feel everything so intensely and the emotions that fill the air during this most wonderful time of the year are no exception.
You never get too old to rejoice in the magic of this season. The fact that it brings people together. It fills your heart with excitement, optimism, happiness, and so much love. Particularly if you get to spend it with people who mean the most to you. Because in essence, that’s what we spend all year waiting for. To celebrate the best part of it (and for some, a birthday too) with those we cherish.
We’re comfortable with being vulnerable and letting it show. Of how happy we are when we enter an elf factory, or stand under a huge lighted-up Christmas tree for a selfie, or get lost in all the seasonal decorations of a store. We don’t mind to demonstrate that side of us, because it’s a part of who we are, and it’s contagious too. Admit it, you can’t not smile at a (small-sized) Christmas-obsessed person camouflaged as an elf among large decorations and rejoicing so much that everything else seems trivial.
Christmas makes us all kids at heart. So, it doesn’t matter how many we’ve experienced, we seize the opportunity to write a letter to Santa. It’s just that we don’t ask for toys anymore. We ask for moments, people, and emotions. We ask that nothing be taken away from us. We express the urge for love, serenity, and happiness. For things to work out as we deserve. For our heart’s desires to be fulfilled.
When we start writing “Dear Santa”, it all magically becomes clear; what it is that we truly want, what matters most, and what’s important for us.
Writing a letter to Santa brings back that innocence we lose as we grow up, that belief that we have that the world will be as magical as we dream it. It reminds us that what we dream we can create, and what we imagine we can be, as long we have an open heart and mind…and just believe.
MC's Whispers 