Saturday 8 December 2012

It's the most wonderful time of the year!..... but not for some :-(

Christmas is one of those times of the year that you either love or hate.
For me personally I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
I really enjoy the whole month of December.
I love fighting for a park at the shopping centre, the crazy long checkout lines, the lights, the tinsel, the gifts, the food, the smiles on my children faces, the parties, did I already mention the food? I had always thought the "Christmas haters" were just crazy people. How could one not love this time of year?
But then once I took my selfish hat off for a second I realized that it was I who was in fact the crazy person!

Recently it dawned on me that everyone is not as lucky in life as I am.
There are people who have no home, no food, no clothing, the basics that most of us take for granted. It was after reading an article in a local newspaper regarding a homeless couple who were about to have their first child that reality set in for me. How could Christmas be "a wonderful time of the year" for this couple, when everyday life for them was sleeping in their car not knowing where their next meal or next dollar was coming from. Not being able to bring their newborn home from the hospital like most couples do, but facing the prospect of bringing home their baby to a car. What horrifies me the most about this situation is that this couple are not alone in this situation, there are many others living in the same circumstance.

After putting some more thought into this I also realized that some of these "Christmas haters" whilst they may not be homeless or struggling financially in life, they may be struggling in other ways. Christmas generally for a lot of people is a time where families come together. But what about those people who have lost family members? Or those who have no family or friends? Maybe they hate Christmas because it reminds them of what they have lost. Maybe they feel or are facing the holiday season alone.

So this Christmas I ask everyone who reads this to perhaps take a minute to remove your Christmas loving hat and think about those less fortunate than yourself for a moment. Maybe it is time to stop hating the haters, and start helping. Place a gift under your local Kmart wishing tree, make a donation to the Salvation Army, LifeLine, The Red Cross in your local area, donate a few hours of your time to help out, drop in and say hello and have a coffee with some of your elderly neighbours, help someone out that you know is doing it tough. The list of things to brighten up the lives of others is truly endless and if we all just gave a little the end results can be huge.



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