Everyone says that Christmas isn’t what is under the tree, but who is around it.
What if Christmas isn’t even that?
PLEASE NOTE: I share to give you a different perspective about what you say Christmas really is and see if it isn’t either of those things. Please read with an open heart. This is not a post to make you feel bad for my situation or now out of obligation to extend an invite to me to any of your events. I am spending this Christmas alone.
Christmas to me has NOTHING to do with whose around me.
For someone like me that has nobody in my household but me [I am single], no immediate family in my life [they disowned me 22 years ago], and very few connected relatives [many of them do not approve of my transformation the last 4 years] and all of them live out of state…however, I do have an abundant amount of amazing friends around the globe and I love my life the way that it is…
However, IF I were to look at Christmas with the lens that the meaning of it was defined by who is around my tree, I would be discouraged, lonely, and frustrated, because I am not spending mine with anyone physically with me.
The meaning of Christmas to me is that each one of us are loved. No matter what we have done in life, no matter who is in our life, no matter what challenges we face in life, no matter our beliefs about anything, no matter how the year has played out, no matter what tomorrow brings, no matter how much money we have in our bank account, no matter any or all of it.
You are loved. I am loved. We are loved.
Christmas is a gift of love to give and to receive. This means I receive love and give love.
Christmas is a time to be reminded about the depths of love and how much love is the restorer of all things in relationships. How it is our choice to have faith and believe. That we can choose to be a light to the world. That love is the glue that gives life to the soul. It is the healing balm to the wounds that burn deep. It is the power to transform from the inside out. It is the strength to the weak. It is the recognition of a life that matters. This is love. Love is Christmas.
And the truth is, Christmas should never be just a season in our lives. It will be a way of life when we really gain the perspective about love.
Yet I acknowledge for those of you who have immediate family and extended family in your life, Christmas can be a time for those all of you to come together. But that isn’t the reason or meaning of Christmas. It is an added way to celebrate THE MEANING OF LOVE TOGETHER. And to demonstrate that love.
I want to ask you to consider what Christmas really is to you and think about the words you use to describe it. You unknowingly are hurting those that have nobody around their tree and who don’t feel loved and are struggling with deep pain of life, trying to just make it another day, longing to have what you have around your tree, but only able to see the pain of life in front of their eyes.
Maybe Christmas is another chance to ask yourself if you believe in LOVE, like Jesus?
Maybe Christmas is an opportunity to look at how you are living a life in LOVE, like Jesus?
Maybe Christmas is to see if you will be a FRIEND, like Jesus?
Maybe Christmas is to consider if you are living from the HEART of FORGIVENESS and GRACE, like Jesus?
Maybe Christmas is to remind you the importance of LOVE and all that LOVE is?
Maybe Christmas is way MORE than the gifts under the tree and the people around your tree?
When I think about all the things LOVE is…it is a pretty intense…the depths and perspective of love is one that I know I can grow deeper in. I have spent a lot of the 2018 year reflecting on unconditional love and working to embody this in all my interactions, but I haven’t. I have more to learn about love.
Love is patient, serene, kind, thoughtful, generous, never jealous, not envious, isn’t arrogant, never rude, provoked, angered, doesn’t count wrongs endured, deals with every little thing, looks for the best, hopes in all things, remains steadfast even in difficult times, endures everything, never fades or ends, is unselfish.
That is a pretty audacious list to encompass love.
May our hearts be open to a deeper perspective of love and embody this more clearly to all in our circle this Christmas.
Merry Christmas My Friends!!!
© Beautiful Evolutions Photography, LLC
