Tis the Season To Be Stressed
Posted: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
by Robin Newman
Robin J
When did we lose sight of the meaning of Christmas? When did we become so brainwashed by capitalism? I mean come on surely you can see the messages coming out of the media, if you don't buy the biggest most expensive or the latest then no one is going to like you. It appears the most popular gift to give your kids these days is narcissism, its all about me how much I get. Christmas is starting to feel like a chore an obligation not a moment in which to create a memory of love and happiness.
The irony of life is it does have an ending and at the final curtain call its not what you have but who you were not what you did and the memories you created with others which will count. Maybe as parents we lack the courage to remind our children of what really counts in life or maybe we ourselves have lost sight of the bigger picture. This Christmas it would be nice if what you got mattered less than who gave it to you. This Christmas it would be nice if how much you spent on presents mattered less than how much time you spent with family. Maybe I am old and cynical wanting the spirit of Christmas to be reborn in the hearts of those yet to be brainwashed by the narcissism of a 'me' culture. Or maybe I am old and wise and know the things you take to the next life are those stored in your heart.
This Article has been viewed 1,829 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Great article and I completely agree. What happened to the meaning of Christmas. Spending time with family and etc. Now it is all about the gifts and other nonsense stuff. Good refreshing article.
I suppose as we get older what use to excite us about Christmas isn't the same as when we were children. However Christmas has always been for the children The spirit of Christmas I believe is still alive in them. I can see the point your trying to get across though.perhaps I am simply a Ba Humbug lol :o)
hi robin,this year, we have no money, my son is in the air force in germany, my daughter in army boot camp in north carolina, and my youngest is with his father in another state.i had no desire to decorate, so i put the manger up.our light bill won't be exorbitant next month.i have to say, it fels great.i'm not worrying about buying and wrapping tons of presents, as i have in christmases past, i'm not worried about buying and cooking all that food, and istead, i am really enjoying christmas for the first time.
thanks for a good reminder,my best,suemy best time with my kids was when we couldnt afford to connect the television and didn't have a lot of money for other things so we played board games and talked with each other.....its amazing how little you miss material things when you are interacting from the heart
We have given our children both simple gifts and expensive gifts at Christmas over the years. The one my son mentions most? We have him on videotape when he was two emptying his stocking. He pulled out pencils and crayons and a colouring book but it was when he pulled out a brand new roll of scotch tape he got excited. He held it up and yelled, "My own tape!" Years later we took the family on a Christmas vacation, but he still prefers to tell the 'tape' story. Good article Robin, I think many of us share your sentiments. Merry Christmas to you and your family.and a merry xmas to all of searchwarp may the coming year bring everyone an abundance of love joy and happiness!
I agree that there is just way too much emphasis on parents believing they must make their children happy rather than sending them on the way to find their own meaningful happiness. Who knows how long American families will continue to create a neverending population of entitlement generations. Enough has been said but think about the jails that are filled with young adults committing minor offenses, which are often signs of resistance to authority....authority they never had and/or never followed because it was never provided by parents.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.