I recently watched a holiday movie where the Mother was pleading with her children about behaving in the “Christmas Spirit.” I often find this time of year to be filled with ironies and dichotomies. It seems people either fully embrace the holidays or completely detest them; there doesn’t appear to be any middle ground. Perhaps some of this extremism is due to the expectations we often have of how things are “supposed’ to be this time of year, thus explaining the “Christmas Spirit” sentiment.
Instead of approaching each day with equanimity, we seem to give specific holidays a certain power over us, influencing how we feel or choose to behave. We become attached to these ideas and imaginings that we have been socialized with, generation after generation. It’s in these attachments that we lose our objectivity and our connection to the present moment. In this disconnect, we reactively either run away or submerse ourselves into ideations. And then, just as quickly as the season passes, our expectations and illusions fade. We return to expecting less, wanting more and going about our day to day. Our emotions no longer captive to the calendar, until the next holiday approaches, Valentine’s Day…
Perhaps if we focused more on acceptance rather than expectation, more on allowing rather than denying, more on gratitude, rather than cynicism, we can regain the power over our emotions and over our choices, and every day, can be met with equanimity and opportunity to tell a different story. One that reflects a spirit of truth, love and compassion, every day of the year.