Star Input - Making Christmas Special
Christmas is such a special time. The lead up is the best – Christmas lights, music, Christmas jumpers, and parties. But depending on how we are in the moment, Christmas can be challenging. It’s a time when we are with a family a lot. And sometimes we feel they can get on a nerves.
How can you really enjoy Christmas? Have the best Christmas you’ve ever had.
Here are some tips that may help you along the way!
Giving instead of receiving
The Joy of Christmas is about others. If we think of ourselves first, we will end up not enjoying it as much. Although it might seem contradictory, it does work.
This is why JOY is spelled like this: J.O.Y (Jesus, Others, You) in that order. Other happiness would be called YOJ, and it isn’t!
Ask what can you do
Sometimes it’s hard to know how to think of others. But to do it, it’s always good to go practical. Being practical means you act first and your intentions follow.
Over Christmas, try this simple thing – every day, ask you Mum or Dad, what can you do to help. For many parents Christmas is one of the busiest time of the year, so they will be delighted with any help.
If they say nothing (because they might be too busy even to think), offer with specific ideas: clean up the sitting-room, offload the dish-washer, hoover upstairs, etc.
You might think – I’m no good at that but you won’t get good at anything, unless you try.
Moods
Like anyone, we can get into a mood because someone said something to us or we just got up on the wrong side of bed. But the interesting thing about moods is that they get bigger, if we give into them. They are like Gremlins. The more you feed them, the bigger they get!
Saint Therese of Lisieux when she was 13 was exactly the same. She talks about this in her book. When she got into a real mood. Here’s how she describes it. I’ve changed some of the words to make it easier to read -
When I got home from Midnight Mass, I knew that I would find my shoes standing at the fireplace, filled with presents, as I had always done since I was little.
My Dad used to love to see how happy I was and hear my cries of delight as I took each surprise packet from my magic shoes, and his pleasure made me happier still. But the time had come for Jesus to cure me of my childishness; even the innocent joys of childhood were to go. He allowed my Dad to feel cross this year, instead of spoiling me, and as I was going upstairs, I heard him saying: “Therese should have outgrown all this sort of thing, and I hope this will be the last time.” This cut me to the quick, and Céline, who knew how very sensitive I was, whispered to me: “Don’t come down again just yet; you’ll only go and cry if you open your presents now in front of Father.”
But I was not the same Thérèse any more; Jesus had changed me completely. I held back my tears, and trying to stop my heart from beating so fast, I ran down into the dining room. I picked up the shoes and unwrapped my presents joyfully, looking all the while as happy as a queen. My Dad did not look cross anymore now and entered into the fun of it, while Céline thought she must have been dreaming. But this was no dream.
Therese could have easily given into her mood of feeling that her Dad was not happy with the whole thing and banged a few doors or cried, but she decided not to. It was her decision to give a different response to the situation.
Victor Frankl has this famous line in his book where he says:
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
So when someone annoys you (stimulus), there is a space there… where you can decide how you plan to respond. There lies your growth and your freedom.
Discussion Time:
What’s the best things you like about Christmas?
How do you plan to help at home during Christmas?
Do you ever get in a mood? Why does it happen to you? What do you do when you are in a mood?
What do you think of St Therese’s response to the situation?
Did something like this ever happen to you?