Possessions: A Follow Up and More
Well, haven’t I become a blogger lately? (my publisher would say it’s about time).
Some people have emailed or left Facebook messages to explain to me that they are not material minded people and I want to reassure you that that’s not what the message was meant to say. It wasn’t saying you can’t have them or can’t enjoy them. It was saying don’t make your possessions the thing that defines you.
I just had an image of a person working on their house. It was their whole focus. All of their energy went into making their material possessions AMAZING. But they never thought about working on their soul’s development. The most important work that we come here to do. Love, patience, kindness, understanding, forgiveness, always learning from our experiences. Playfulness, spontaneity, making amends if we hurt someone, living by the Golden Rule. Developing our character and becoming the person we want to be. Every experience in life is an opportunity for our soul to develop further. As we grow our reactions change and shift, we can see our growth. Change is what it’s all about. Always changing and evolving.
So don’t worry if you love your material possessions. Just don’t let them define you. Work on the inside so that when your life is over and you’re out of your body, you’re not yelling “do over, do over, I want a do over.” (you’ll get a do over but it won’t be for awhile).
On a brighter note, today is Christmas Eve day and I have that same giddy-ness I always have on this day. One of my best childhood memories of Christmas is driving to Gramma’s along River Road in St. Paul, watching up in the sky for Rudolph. When I was a little girl, airplanes weren’t in the skies like they are today, so every time we saw a red light, we were sure that was Rudolph and we would get so excited we could hardly stand it.
When we got home from Gramma’s, if there was a brand new pair of pajama’s on our bed, that meant that Santa had already stopped by once and would be coming back soon, so we needed to hurry up and eat the oyster stew with the little crackers, down about 10-12 cookies and head to bed. The excitement would be overwhelming. With all the sugar we always consumed, I’m surprised we ever got to sleep but we did. It always felt so special to put on pajama’s that Santa left for us.
Santa doesn’t leave me new pajama’s anymore but I know he’s out there. He comes in many forms and I’m so glad he’s still alive in my child-like heart.
I know many of you are really struggling right now. Life can be a bitch. (yup, I said bitch). It can and it will be. That’s a given. So buckle up and remember that if you tackle life one hour at a time, one day at a time, you can do it. Forget about the future. Forget about worrying about all the tomorrow’s that aren’t here.
Forget about all the negative things for today and tomorrow and just be in the moment. And remember that the birth of Jesus is what it’s really all about. He’s our older brother. He came here to show us our potential. So be excited for yourself. You have amazing potential and that’s what’s important. A brand new year is on the way for you to discover more cool things about yourself.
I’m excited for all of us. I love new beginnings. I wish you new pajama’s on your bed tonight and the sun shining in your life.
Now tell me your favorite Christmas memory.
God Bless
Favorite memory: Asking the grownups how many more minutes til we can open presents after dinner. They’d say five minutes while they had coffee and cigarettes, so we would run around the tree and count to 60 five times. Totally the anticipation. Thank you for all the reminders about staying in the moment!
Favorite memory? Very similar to yours…the anticipation on Christmas Eve while watching the TV news reports from NORAD who were watching the skies for Santa, the excitement and surprise and just how magical it all was/seemed! And we always had oyster stew on Christmas Eve too! What’s with that? Was that a Norweigan tradition?
My mom was Irish and someone told me just last week that it’s an Irish Tradition but that came from my Irish relatives, so who knows. Does anyone out there really know where eating Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve comes from?
Oh!! And watching ‘Rudolph’ on TV. It was so special then because it only came on once and you had to wait all year to see it again!
When I was a kid, my mother’s parents lived on a farm in Southern Minnesota. I was born and raised in Minneapolis, so going to their farm as a little girl was very special. It was there I learned to love the land and the animals and realize there was a whole world far beyond the city.
Christmases at the farm were different! For one thing, the big old farm house could accommodate a huge group of people and everyone came at Christmas! No one had any money, including my parents, so we would always draw ONE name from a hat at Thanksgiving and buy that person a $10 gift. It was SO SIMPLE, yet filled with such anticipation and excitement. Everyone would bring a dish to pass and I remember my grandma spooning out the dressing from the big bird before making gravy. There would be 6-10 women in the kitchen, all working at getting the meal on the table. And what a table that was — it could seat up to 30 in that huge dining room.
Grandkids would recite their “pieces” after dinner and games included Chinese checkers, Rook and Old Maid. The men would smoke their cigars and talk about the crops they would plant in the spring. On Christmas Eve, we all went to the little church in town (population 125) to look at baby Jesus in the manger and hear the Christmas story told once again. Farmers from the surrounding area would come — many in ragged clothes. The smells were always interesting — from barn smell to heavy duty cologne worn by the older women. It was such a fun mix of everything! And no one cared what anyone looked like or smelled like or how off-key they sang. Everyone was welcomed with such love. And at the top of our lungs, we belted out one Christmas carol after another, in joyous celebration of that magical night.
And those were the GREATEST Christmases I ever remember to this day! How I would LOVE to turn back the clock.
What a great story. I want to hear more Christmas stories. so if you’re out there reading this, please share a favorite Christmas memory.