'Tis the Season

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, Christmas is almost here. And the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear Christmas is presents! This holiday season, families are going out to stores and buying presents for each other and companies are sending out more and more ads with more and more Christmas deals/specials. Every year the presents we buy get more elaborate and usually more expensive. And every year stores, it seems as if stores are advertising for Christmas products earlier and earlier.

          This year, as I was walking through Target, and noticed that they already had Christmas displays out. It was around Halloween. Two months before Christmas. They ALREADY had certain Christmas candy on the shelves. To me, that’s just a little bit ridiculous. Christmas has become such a commercial holiday. All we ever think about between Thanksgiving and Christmas is buying presents. While I don’t disagree with giving presents, I do disagree with how Thanksgiving and Christmas have become all about spending money.

          Thanksgiving is a time that we are supposed to be thankful for what we have. I will be the first to admit that I take a lot of things in my life for granted. And I do go Black Friday shopping. But it, honestly, is getting a bit out of control. Half the stores opened on Thanksgiving, not Black Friday. Like, let’s just take it back a notch real quick. Can we not just wait a few more hours?

          I think that the subject of taking things for granted has really been taken to a whole new level for me lately with Drew Wall’s passing and the shooting in Connecticut. It has showed me how much I have to be thankful for. I think that all of us take the fact that we wake up every day for granted until something like those things happen. It obviously isn’t something that is talked or thought about much because it is such a simple little thing, yet so important.

          But ‘tis the season ladies and gents. We all have to continue on with our lives even after tragedy. I’m not saying it’s wrong to buy presents or spend a lot on the people we care about. But we should all take some time this holiday season to think about what we have and be thankful for it. Let’s make this holiday a little less commercial and a little more content.

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