Hi this is Dr. Maria,
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It’s about how you can create the best Holiday Season ever. It starts with a story I’ve told in the past few years. As always, I’m going to give you some suggestions, because this time of year can create stress and even loneliness, even amid the lights and sounds that swirl around us:
It’s a cold, gray December morning. Carl is tired as he walks along the river, looking over the dark water. It’s his first Holiday Season away from home. Even though it’s a good promotion, he’s now over 2000 miles away from his loved ones. He’s lonely. Doesn’t know what to do.
He kicks at a clod of earth. It reveals an old metal pot of some kind. Carl stoops to pick it up. It looks like one of those pots with a Genie in it. He looks for some writing. Sure enough, he reads: “Rub this, make a wish, and…”
The last words are hiding under some extra grime. They’re too blurry to read.
No matter: “Frankly,” Carl mutters to himself while straightening up from his stooped position, “I’m too tired to read the rest.”
The last words are hiding under some extra grime. They’re too blurry to read.
However, just to see what happens, he rubs the pot. And, as you can imagine, a Genie appears in a blue puff of smoke!
The Genie says:
“ Your Wish is My Command, Sir!”
After a moment of shock, Carl says to this tall, unfamiliar visitor:
“I want to have the best Holiday Season of my life! I’m lonely, and a great Holiday Season would cheer me up! Yes, that’s what I want: the most beautiful time I’ve ever had.”
There’s a pause. The Genie stands in silence. And, receiving nothing else from the man, he smiles and disappears.
“Well, let’s just see what happens about this Holiday,” Carl says to himself as he walks back to his car, putting the pot next to him in the passenger seat. “I do want to have more joy right about now.” The moment he says that, he starts to feel just a little bit better.
Driving home, Carl sees a young woman standing by her car on the side of the road. Her tire has just blown. She looks cold and nervous. Carl gets out of his car and asks her if she’s called for help. She says she called for a tow truck to help with the tire, but it’s been over 45 minutes, and it hasn’t come.
Carl helps her, and she’s so grateful that she hugs him and gives him some of the sweet oranges she was bringing to her Grandmother. At that moment, Carl feels a slight glow inside. Maybe his wish is working.
He decides to go to the local mall to see the bright, Christmas display lights he knows are there. He goes to the Christmas Tree of Giving. Each limb has the name of a child who needs a present to make their day brighter. He picks a card for a nine-year-old boy and adds his present to the box by the tree. His heart feels lighter knowing that some 9-year-old boy is going to have a better Christmas because of what he just did.
“Ok,” Carl says to himself. “I almost forgot to send my parents a box of the pears they love!” He orders the pears. And his heart feels even more warmth. In fact, some joy starts to appear as he smiles to himself.
Clearly in the gift-giving mood, he looks up the address of the local shelter for unhoused families. He knows they serve Christmas lunch to anyone who comes through the door. He calls them and volunteers to help serve the lunch and clean up after.
Christmas Day shows up at the shelter, handing out sweet potatoes on the buffet line. By now, his heart is brimming with joy, and he’s convinced that the Genie worked magic.
On December 27th, he finds that old pot on the passenger’s seat and decides to rub it to thank Genie and ask for his remaining two wishes.
That’s when he gets a surprise.
The Genie appears and, after the greeting, says to him:
“I haven’t done anything yet for you, Sir! Look at the pot again. It says: ‘Rub this pot, and when the Genie appears, first say:
‘I command you, Genie, to follow me!’
“Follow this with your wish. Then I’m compelled to make that wish come true. I waited for you to say those words and then left. I hope you were successful on your own!
And there he was! We can only imagine what his three wishes were all about, coming from an open heart and joyous spirit.
Tales like this always come with a lesson or two:
- Your mind will always bring you what you’re looking for. In this case, the man expected a great Holiday Season. And that’s what happened. What are you willing to experience this year?
- Take a pen and right now write down what you would love to happen. Look especially for that which warms your heart and nourishes your spirit! That’s the present you are giving yourself this year!
- Remember: you are powerful. Be willing to look for what’s going right, and that is what your brain will gather evidence for. Your brain was designed to prove that whatever you are focusing on is the truth. Focus your brain on gathering evidence for what isn’t working, and that’s what you will experience.
- One of the best ways to warm your heart is to contribute to others. Years ago, I was a coordinator for The Holiday Project. We visited people in convalescent homes and hospitals and sang for them on Christmas Day. We could see how much it lifted their spirits. And we came away feeling great, too. On one special occasion, we visited a convalescent home where a woman was lying on a hospital bed. We gathered around her bed and were going to sing “Silent Night” for her. The nurse told us she hadn’t spoken for almost a year. We decided to sing for her anyway. I began playing on my guitar. As we started to sing “Silent Night,” she began singing along with us! We kept singing, but there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Even the nurse was amazed.
- Think of things you can do to contribute to others. It goes beyond gift-giving when we let people know how much they mean to us. Or, when we do something for them that they may not be able to do for themselves. At Unity School of Christianity, there’s a motto that goes like this:
You can donate your time, treasure, and/or talent to a person, cause, or community that calls to you.
When you find something that has your “name” on it, contribute whatever you can, and you will experience joy no matter what it is!
May you have the Best Holiday Ever!
Dr. Maria Nemeth
If you’re interested, you can go to marianemeth.com to see articles from the past, join a webinar dedicated to your success, or leave a message with a question. And, check out LinkedIn.com with messages from me to brighten your day
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