Merry Christmas Editorial: Don’t Scrooge Up Your Holidays

The 2019 Christmas Tree (Photo by Bob Vosseller)

Ebenezer Scrooge, upon reaching his epiphany at the end of “A Christmas Carol,” said “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

  At least, he did in “Muppet Christmas Carol.” I didn’t read the book.

  While it might be a bit cliché to say this, it’s important to take the person you are on the holidays and use that person to inspire you year-round. I’m not talking about the stressed-out, exhausted person you are right before the holiday. I’m talking about the day after, when everything is done, and there’s a calm throughout the house. And you can reflect upon what was done right and what went wrong.

  Everyone says that the gifts are not important; it’s the giving. And they’re right. But maybe it’s time to give in a different way. Give of yourself. Give your time. Give your heart. There are a lot of problems in this world, and the only way to solve them is if people start caring.

  Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Festivus (especially Festivus) please take the time to be giving in 2020 as well. Make compassion your New Year’s Resolution.

  We all have it hard. Some harder than others. You can’t judge someone unless you walk a mile in their shoes.

  Yes, these platitudes are all clichés. But they’re said all the time because they’re true.