Beware the Things, Part 2

They Are Out There! 
Beware The Things!  

I am sounding the alarm as the race for Christmas begins to beware the seductive power to become just another "thing" in all of the transactions.  Look.  I love the whole Christmas season.  Nobody has ever gotten the trees the size that I have gotten!  But there comes a time when you can step back and ask yourself---alright, what have I become as I amass all these things?  There's a great book out there called Unplug the Christmas Machine.  It can give you a whole different vision of who you are and how you use the season instead of becoming just another ornament in it.  Take a good look at the mall picture below--do you see Thing 1 and Thing 2 in that crowd?  They are there alright and they have human faces. 

So don't throw out the season.  Change it for yourself.  How can you use this season to say "thank you" to people for what they have meant to you during the year?  Instead of accumulating things--connect with them in personal way by showing your gratitude.  Write the longer note in the Christmas card--forget the mass production.  Gratitude is the key to the season of Christmas when we find special ways to express our thanks.  Aren't we most ourselves as human beings when we say thanks? 

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.  Melody Beattie