The Christmas Switch

It's that time of year again. I came home from work to find that my wife had packed away all of the regular dishes, table runners, and normal household items and replaced them all with the Holiday trimmings that will adorn our home for the next month. A fire had been started in the fireplace, a miracle in my absence. The noise of the TV had been replaced by a CD of traditional Christmas music, and if you get in any of our vehicles, you'll find the radio tuned to the local "Christmas Songs" station. The decision has been made, "We are doing Christmas".

Isn't it amazing how we can just "decide" to do Christmas? It doesn't matter how the finances are going or not going. It doesn't matter if the temperature outside is 40 or 80. It doesn't matter if I had a great day or a horrible day at work, the decision has been made. For the next month, everything will be wonderful.

We will fight hard to protect the celebration of Christmas from those pesky worries and concerns that plague us all year long. We will decide that we are in control of what does or does not occupy our thoughts during this time of the year, and we'll realize that no matter how big that obstacle may seem, it still can't move us without our permission.

We will fight against all enemies, foreign and domestic to preserve the joy of Christmas. We will be on guard for anything that would rob us of that childlike joy that we all felt on Christmas morning when we got out of bed and ran to see what Santa had left under the tree. It may be hard sometimes, but in the end, we will win!

So here's my question; When Christmas is over, and my wife puts all of the usual household items back in their places, the fire goes out, and the radio quits playing Christmas music, does that mean that I have to go back to allowing my life to be run by all of those things which I fought so hard against in order to enjoy Christmas? The things that I realized I have power over.

Is there any special power that I have during Christmas that dissipates after Christmas?

I think not.

Let It Flow

Fluidity of thought is a wonderful thing!

Have you ever paid attention to how many thoughts you have in a given moment and how random some of those thoughts are? This is part of the incredible mind that tracks our memories, plans our steps, inventories our surroundings, processes the information we are taking in through our eyes, nose, ears, and hands, balances our weight and makes adjustments as we walk, run, sit or stand, and gives commands to the body to breath, smile, cry, laugh, frown, blink, swallow, and smell.

This same mind does all of this without so much as a strenuous breath or anxious thought. Of course this list could be exponentially expanded into all of the many cellular functions that are performed thoughtlessly.

The bottom line is that if anyone ever calls you dumb, stupid, idiot, or dense, you can confidently reply that your very existence contradicts there baseless accusation.

Society measures intelligence by cognitive recollection of taught facts and information which is an incredibly narrow and ambiguous way of measuring the capacity of the most complex and creative supercomputer on the face of the planet, your mind.

Never forget, YOU are incredible!