It’s Christmas morning and it’s eerily quiet all over the world. There’s no traffic, no hustle and bustle of commuters scrambling to get to work. For this one day of the year most are at home with loved ones, or preparing to receive them.

Within a few short hours all those presents you so painstakingly wrapped will be scattered around the room amidst mountains of paper, bows and ribbon. Parents prepare breakfast and children play with their new toys while Christmas carols play on the radio. For this one day each year we all forget our worries and relax with loved ones – all is well.

Within a few short hours the aroma of turkey will fill the air as we await our guests and if you’re anything like me, you’re looking forward to, and equally dreading, the rich meal that awaits because we will inevitably overindulge, as we do every holiday. How can we not?

As I glance around the house, I recall the weeks of labour leading up to this day. The search for the perfect tree, the holiday baking, hanging the outdoor lights, securing the garland and stockings on the mantle, not to mention the hours and hours of shopping, sorting, and wrapping. The weekends in December are booked with holiday gatherings, exhaustive but jovial, because we all get caught up in the holiday spirit, and in a matter of 24 hours it’s all over. If we feel at all short changed by the speed with which this goes by, we don’t show it because the warmth of the holiday stays with us right through to the new year.

We grudgingly take down our tree, declaring it the best we’ve ever had, and next year we’ll say exactly the same thing. The turkey carcass is boiling in a big pot on the stove and we look forward to the simplicity of our next meal. The holiday chocolates and cookies are all but gone, and that’s ok, cause we’ve had enough. The gifts have been sorted, all the packaging disposed of, and our busy life returns, much to our dismay. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep this warm holiday feeling all year? Yes, it would, but we can’t, because like all good things, the holiday spirit too, must pass, and life in all its’ drudgery resumes. We will spend the next few months shoveling snow and dreaming of spring.

Let’s take a different view of the passing of Christmas this year. Maybe we leave the tree up a few days longer; spend a couple of evenings enjoying the twinkling lights – revel in the memories we forged over the past few days. Picture the happy faces of friends and loved ones we connected with – if you really try you can probably even hear their laughter. Forget the work and focus on the memories, and take comfort in the knowledge that you’ll have the chance to do it all again, after all, Christmas is only 364 days away……….. Merry Christmas!