This week, I sat and listened to my husband read the story A Christmas Carol to our children. As he came to the part of the ghost of Christmas present, I was drawn into the story and began to see correlations in my own life. I don’t know how much you know about the story, but in short it is about a very stingy man who has lost sight of good and only sees the bad in his life. He is inward focused, and aims to make miserable the lives of those around him. In the night, he is visited by three “ghosts”. The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In these experiences, he sees how his attitude toward ife and toward others GREATLY impacts those around him. He sees how the people in his life not only view him but how his words and actions shape those around him.
The next morning he wakes up with a new found joy in his heart! The joy comes from the reality that his life wasn’t and isn’t over–that despite the circumstances, he can celebrate because there are good things happening in his life. He has a job, a family who loves him, and people who are grateful for him, even when he treats them so poorly. He found joy in waking up to a new day!
How often do we find joy in waking up to a new day? How often do we find ourselves thankful for a fresh start and a chance to do another day over? Often, we find ourselves caught up in the busyness and the sadness life can bring. Each one of us experiences loss, sadness, frustration, disappointment, and so on in our life journey. And sometimes, those experiences can overshadow all the great things we still GET to experience. Don’t let the past or even the present prevent you from celebrating that today, you woke up. Despite yesterday or a life time of mistakes and problems, TODAY you get a new day! Celebrate the lives of those around you. Life is something we often take for granted as we lose focus of our purpose. Our purpose is to better the lives of those around us and in turn better our own. Don’t forget why you are alive this holiday season. Make it count!