The Secret of Christmas

Naples Island, CA 

Okay.  They're  officially here.  The holidays whether we want them or not but given the fact we have no choice in the matter how are we going to deal with everything they entail? 

Will we celebrate or prefer not to participate?  Will we go forward joyfully proclaiming what the holidays represent while we engage in everything we can think of to make the days exactly what we want them to be?   Will nostalgia have us reminiscing even though we can’t go back?

OR

Will we linger in dismay as we complain about the fact that Thanksgiving, the current holidays and New Years are jammed together each demanding their own recognition? Will we look at our end of the year calendar counting the days till January 2^nd when life will go back to normal. 

Naples Island, CA

Whichever route you take, perhaps some middle ground can be found in the following song.

THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS

Words by:  Sammy Cahn; Music by:  James Van Heusen; From the movie:  Say One For Me

Staring:  Debbie Reynolds, Bing Crosby and Robert Wagner

Refrain:

Look at the happy people

Christmas is in the air

Well, I know THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS

A secret I’m will to share

Verse:

It’s not the glow you feel when snow appears

It’s not the Christmas card you’ve sent for years

Not the joyful sound when sleigh-bells ring

Or the merry songs children sing

The little gift you send on Christmas day

Will not bring back the friend you’ve turned away

So may I suggest

THE SECRET OF CHRISTMAS is not the things you do at Christmas time

But the Christmas things you do all year through

🎄 Marian

Inner Voice: "I'm So Happy When You Hear Me!"

Has there ever been a time in your life when an experience changed you forever even though you didn’t know it was going to at the time.

When I was a kid living and growing up in Houston going to the movies was something we did to amuse ourselves.  I remember going to a movie called It Happened to Jane starting Doris Day and Ernie Kovacs.  It was a cute movie with lots of middle of the story angst and Doris winning as usual but that’s not what caught my attention.  In the opening scene, Ernie was sitting at a table making his way through a lobster.  Now this might not seem significant to most people but I had not been exposed to lobster eating.  I thought, “So that how it’s done.”  I was mesmerized watching him, but at some point, something stirred inside me.  I  realized there was a lot of world out there I wasn’t part of.  I was witnessing an evolving world I wasn’t evolving along with.  I felt I was living in an atmosphere that wasn’t in step with what was going on in other places.  I questioned, “How could these things be going on without me being involved?” 

After leaving the theatre, I went on with my daily life.  I didn’t go out and shout that I was leaving Houston to find that other world but eventually that is what did happen.

I look back on that experience and think:  are we given glimpses that someday we will use to propel ourselves onto a different path?  Even if we forget them for years are they there in our subconscious mind growing and getting ripe for the right time and opportunity to be expressed?  Are they some sort of hidden catalyst that eventually surfaces causing us to make some of the decisions we do? 

So, the question here is:  Can we look back at some of our experiences and say, “Hum, I wonder” and start connecting the dots?

💟 Marian

Yeah Baby! Bring it On!

Driving through the Rockies

What do a 3,000-mile drive across the United States and one of the worst hurricanes in northeast history have in common?  The answer to that is nothing unless you happen to be the one doing the driving heading toward the forces of Mother Nature and her aftermath which varied depending on where you lived.  But whether or not one is directly involved or just feels the remnants of a particular happening, everyone is affected on some level meaning we really can’t escape forces that are destined to be part of our lives.  This was my experience as I drove from Portland, Oregon to New York City in October 2012 arriving just three days before Hurricane Sandy.

Life shows up.  It’s as simple as that.  The question is, though, will we grab life with both hands saying “bring it on” (active) or are we more inclined to throw our arms up in the air reciting “whatever” (passive.)  If we knew in advance what would be coming our way would we wait to move forward until we considered it safe or would we plunge ahead anyway?  Is it worth the risk to take on something without truly knowing all the ins and outs?  And what happens when we don’t have much of a choice?  Would we be willing to allow our experience to grow us or would we fret and complain at the inconveniences that come our way which force us to lay aside our current activities so unwelcome things can be dealt with?

If we come to the conclusion that life is going to be what it’s going to be can we actually give a resounding “yes” to everything that comes our way.  And if we can, will we decide to allow a passive approach to linger or will we take a more active approach using it to catapult ourselves forward as we take hold of the reins once again proclaiming that “come hell or high water” we will survive the storm.

💥 Marian