Happy Christmas

Hello Readers,

The most wonderful thing about Christmas is that its compulsory and we all go through it together every year because for centuries, people have kept an appointment with the Festive Season. We shop till we drop both in the shops and online making the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale bargains ,prepare, cook, feast, give and receive gifts and talk about the importance of close friends and family whilst making a few New Year Resolutions along the way. No matter how much is expected of us, we keep ploughing ahead because we have people and pets to care for who rely on us and because we have a sense of duty to both ourselves and others.

But not everyone is in the fortunate position of being able to celebrate with family and friends in the traditional way because circumstances do not always allow. Many people live alone, some live far away, others may be serving in the armed forces who cannot get home easily. There are people who struggle badly this time of year because of great sadness and bereavement whilst others have to work over the Christmas period for various reasons and some don’t even have a place to call their home. Christmas is often the time when everything seems to happen at once. Life is not always a bed of roses. Perhaps they have lost their jobs, their home, a loved one or a relationship hits the rocks. Rarely is life uneventful during this period. Our Emergency Services such as police, doctors, nurses, medics, the Samaritans, to name a few are always busy and over worked during the festive season because it’s always at this time that everything seems to kick off. You can almost guarantee that if your central heating boiler or oven is going to break down its nearly always at Christmas after everyone has downed tools and gone home for the holiday season. But Christmas is a necessity because there has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we are here for something else other than just pleasing ourselves.

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving and it is also a time to spare a thought for others who are not as fortunate as you. But so many people only ever think of extending kindness and season’s greetings during the festive season and forget about it all the rest of the year because they can’t be bothered or it just doesn’t occur to them that a friend in need is a friend indeed. Christmas is doing a little bit extra for someone because for so many people it’s the only time in the year when people can express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious or foolish. Christmas is probably the only time when they can truly be themselves. Christmas waves a magic wand all over this world and suddenly, everything is more softer and beautiful, if only for a short period of time. The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood that bring back such wonderful memories of times gone by. When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest of things and it’s not necessarily the greatest occasions that give off the warmest glow of happiness. Christmas is not so much as opening our presents as much as its about opening our hearts, because Christmas is love in action!

Every year my family and I spend Christmas together and each year it represents something very special and important for us all because we are only a very small family and we only have one another, so we stick together like super glue. All for one and one for all. This is how we have managed to survive the traumas and challenges that life put in our pathways over the years.

My wish for you all is that the person reading this message be happy, healthy and loved. If you listen closely enough, love is the only thing in the room with you when you stop opening your presents and be still for a few moments and the best gift of all around any Christmas Tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

My family and I and The Lulas would like to wish you all, wherever you are, whoever you are, a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year. May all your dreams come true. Peace on Earth and Goodwill to you all.

Honour Christmas in your heart and try to keep it all year long.

Love and Light,

Linda and The Lulas xxx