I was awakened this morning by a concept that has been running through my mind for quite some time. Why do so many people only have the ‘Christmas Spirit’ at Christmas time?
So many good deeds are done at Christmas, yet it seems like a lot of people will only do something good for others at that time. Then there are some that only allow themselves to see the good done by others during the Holiday Season, even though it is happening every day around them. Often by the same people they like to judge or ridicule throughout the year.
We seem to have this fallacy that ‘the Christmas Spirit’ only comes once a year, but that is not true. It only becomes more widely visible during this time, because we place our focus upon it, but it always exists. All through the year people are living with the Spirit, or better living in the Spirit. They live their lives in the Spirit of love, honour for others, and compassion, which is what it, is really about.
So many are not kind to others through the year, even to those that love them, and then at Christmas, they buy them a gift and act like that is enough. That is not enough; you cannot erase your harsh words, selfish deeds and mean actions with a Christmas gift. A true gift would be to strive to be your best self all through the year.
This is a gift that would be given to many, as well as yourself. It costs nothing but some self-reflection and admitting some hard truths to yourself. It takes only for you to own up to your own actions and strive to better them. No other person on this planet can make you be negative or bitter, that is something you choose.
I have personally had some hellish experiences in this lifetime, yet I refuse to allow them to define me or influence my life. I did for a long time, I was angry, bitter and stuck in victim mode, and the world was a dark place full of horrible people. Until I decided that I was not going to allow myself to be who they wanted me to be, I wouldn’t fall into the role that they had defined. I was no longer a victim, but a survivor, and then I became a Co-creator with the Universe.
I choose to see beauty in the world because I know that only I can make joy in my heart. Only I can define my reality by doing good deeds. I counter the negativity by doing the opposite as often as I can. No person is infallible, we all have bad days, but we can choose to push through those, and not get pulled back into the negative feedback loop.
No matter what others do, we have a choice in life to be better than they were to us. We can bring good into the world in the face of evil. Our reactions and our perspectives are what control our view of the world. You can see this Spirit shine through survivors of great horrors. Those radiant people with smiles on their faces and love in their hearts even still. Survivors of great cruelty who have never lost that spark of Humanity, that still have compassion and kindness for others. That is the Spirit that lives within us all year round.
Often you will hear people exclaim that the second coming of Christ is upon us. What if it has never left? What if it lies within our hearts, having been placed there at our birth? I see this spark in every person, no matter how evil they choose to live their life. They can feed the flame, or douse it so it is only a small shimmer, but it never goes away. This is our gift from our Creator.
No ‘sin’, no matter how horrible can condemn a person to lose their spark of Divinity. They will never be vilified by our Creator nor condemned as a lost cause. We do that; through our judgements and our view of them and their actions. So many perpetrators of evil, have never experienced love or compassion and therefore do not know how to live like that, or that it even exists. This is not to say they should be exempt from punishment, but only through legal means. Their Soul is not corrupt, nor damned.
My point is that we can choose to see what we experience as the world around us. If we only choose to see ugly things, then we need to really reflect on why we have this as our focus. There is so much beauty in the world if we are open to seeing it. It is there every day, not only during Holidays.
The more we place our focus on the good, the more it grows. We feed what we see; in other words, the fires we stoke are the fires that grow. Can you choose to see that spark of Divinity within every person, no matter how much they have hurt you?
We are given a choice every day, to be a witness for the world we see around us. Where we place our attention, we place our reality. If we only see the positive, even in the most difficult people and situations, then that is the world we build. If on the other hand we actively search out things to complain about, people to be mad at and others to blame for our misery, then that too, is our own creation.
I am not saying evil doesn’t exist; on the contrary, it is very much alive in the hearts of people who have diminished their Spark. However, if we focus upon only that, we feed that darkness. If we choose to see that small shimmer within, that too will be fed, and sometimes, that feeling of acknowledgement can ignite that Spark enough to turn someone’s life around.
Going into the New Year, what is it that you will choose to let go of? What old anger are you willing to give up? What person are you willing to shift your perception of, in order to create peace in your own heart? What reality are you going to focus on in 2020?
Mine will be one of beauty, compassion, kindness, honesty, community, joy, integration and love. I see this around me, reflected by all of the beautiful people in my life, who choose to witness the same world.
Happy Holidays. I wish you and your loved ones, a joyous and love-filled New Year. May your Divine Spark radiate and help ignite the same in others.
Big hugs and Blessings
Gib mir den Anblick – Give Me the Sight 1935 Sulamith Wülfing (January 11, 1901 – 1989)
Very nice 🙂