THE CHRISTMAS PAYOFF


Christmas is worth the hassle
By Kelvin Wade December 22, 2010

As the song goes, it's the most wonderful time of the year. But it's also the most stressful. One doesn't have to be the Grinch or Scrooge in order to feel put upon by the Christmas season. Right now, there are people who are wishing it were Dec. 26 so they can exhale.

It starts with Black Friday. You see those great deals you know you're never going to come close to getting because there's no way you're camping out or standing in a line for hours freezing just for the chance to buy something at a discount.

During the Christmas season, every store you go to is packed. The parking is horrendous, the lines are long and the selection is skimpy because a horde has descended upon the store before you ever showed up. Every restaurant is crowded. The post office is even slower than normal, something that seems to be an impossibility.

Then someone unexpectedly gives you a gift and you fret because you feel obligated to get him or her something. Their nice gesture just added another layer of stress to your day.

And let's face it. No one has enough money at Christmas.

If you started a diet, it's blown because during the holidays everyone is suddenly Martha Stewart, baking away. You can't walk into an office without seeing a virtual buffet of chocolate, fudge, cookies and candy.

Then there's the annual blather about the War on Christmas. Some are convinced there's a plot to obscure Jesus' birth. Meanwhile, you're left wondering why people are getting so worked up over this as they go to the mall and buy hundreds of dollars worth of gifts in order to celebrate the birth of a man who hung out with the poor and once told a rich man to sell all of his possessions.

All of this to a seemingly endless soundtrack of happy Christmas music that has the ironic effect of making you want to strangle Santa Claus with his reindeer reins.

Breathe.

But all of this is instantly worth it when you see your kids or grandkids opening their presents, eyes full of wonder and ear-to-ear grins. When you execute the perfect gag gift and the room erupts like a comedy club, it chases away all of the Christmas season stress.

Or when you gift a loved one with a donation to a charity in their name and watch the moment go from hysterically funny to poignant like a John Hughes film, such is the magic of Christmas.

Standing in long lines buying food and gifts to donate is worth it for the joy it will bring to an anonymous family. Nothing fills one with the Christmas spirit quicker or more completely than giving.

When you clasp hands at the dinner table and offer thanks for a hearty meal (even though it's overcooked by a brother who naively thinks he can recreate anything he sees on the Food Network), the hassles of the holiday season melt away.

Reflecting on those who are no longer with us helps strengthen the bond among those of us who are. Being surrounded by family and friends is truly a Christmas blessing.

So embrace Christmas with all of its headaches, stresses, gaudiness, reverence, bells and whistles. Merry Christmas from my family to yours. Peace on Earth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Matt Garcia

Image
Ten years ago, I woke up and turned on my laptop and went to the Daily Republic website and was devastated to learn of the shooting of Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia. I immediately called my brother Tony who answered and knew why I was calling. We shared our shock and horror. But mainly we just cried together on the phone. Later when Matt had been removed from life support and passed away I told Tony that it felt like hope itself had died. He told me, “Matt has inspired too many people to let hope die. But hope took a beating today.” It seemed like some horrible cosmic joke. Twenty-one year old Matt Garcia, elected to the Fairfield City Council on a platform of supporting youth and curbing violence is murdered on the streets of Fairfield. What's worse, his killer mistook him for someone else. It was a pointless act of evil in which a worthless example of a human being took the life of a priceless one. In 2007 Matt invited me to lunch at Joe's Buffet to discuss...
Read more

What if we could enforce our own driving laws?

Image
Thursday, June 6, 2013 Let’s all enforce our own driving laws By Kelvin Wade From page A11 | June 06, 2013 | Leave Comment Vallejo resident Anthony Cardenas, 52, became a local hero after painting his own crosswalk near his home on Sonoma Boulevard at Illinois Street. Cardenas claims the busy street is dangerous for pedestrians, so he painted the crosswalk and earned himself an arrest for felony vandalism and trip to jail for his trouble. Mr. Cardenas makes me want to place my tongue firmly in cheek and take matters into my own hands to make things safer. Have you ever had idiots zoom down your street in complete disregard for kids in the neighborhood? I’d love to creep outside at 3 a.m. with some cement and make my own speed bumps. The next time the speedsters come flying down my street, they’d make a sunroof with their own heads when they hit my new speed bump. BAM! Problem solved. Last week, my friend Nedra Polk asked me to write about the condition of Clay Bank Road between Air B...
Read more

The reason I've ditched my earphones at night

Monday, August 26, 2013 FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA Accident convinces me to ditch my iPad By Kelvin Wade From page A7 | August 22, 2013 | 4 Comments I’ve been an insomniac for years. I used to embrace my insomnia by putting on a pot of coffee at night and doing some of my best writing while the stars were out. I wrote about having a sleep study a couple of months ago and one of the things the analyst told me is I have to stay off my iPad in bed. That hasn’t happened. But recently, my girlfriend Cathi stumbled upon a cure for my nightly iPad habit. So there I was in the middle of the night in bed with earphones in listening to an awesome version of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die” while pummeling various victims in “Words with Friends” on my iPad when I heard a boom. I turned on a lamp and saw my Beagle, Theo, panting at the bedroom door. I thought he’d jumped against the door to get my attention. Lately, he’s had to go out a lot at night (a dog with the bladder of a mouse...
Read more