I attempted to find fulfilment and lasting happiness in materialistic gifts. The happiness was fleeting. I wanted to feel complete and satisfied. I never got that and I always wondered why.
Everyone always remind me about Jesus and his birthday and how It was his day. I always found it annoying. But the older I got the more I understood that happiness does not come from gifts. It comes from love. Love given by family, friends and Christ. True, genuine love is more than the giddy feelings. It's about unconditional love. Loving the good, bad, ugly, pretty, messy and clean parts of our soul.
In a world that thrives on the "feel-good" motto, holidays are robbed of their true meaning. It has turned into being about spending, buying, pleasing,and satisfying. We buy gifts for people simply to please them. We panic thinking they need to be of high quality and expensive. We spend money we don't have to buy things we don't need.
That is what our world is. No longer is it about family, or enjoying others company because technology has robbed us of company.
We shouldn't want to wait until the holidays are over. We should enjoy the time we have with people we seldom see because immediately it could call be taken away from us. Death is inevitable and we spend a large portion of our life bitterly complaining about family.
Family is not perfect but it is what you have, they may not love you the way you need to be loved but be thankful for the family you have. Whatever holiday you celebrate, look at the good though it may be difficult and count what you have instead of what you don't have. And in this, you'll discover the happiness you attempted to get from presents when you were a child.
