What We Can All Learn From Christmas Mornings
Let me tell you about Jimmy…
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s the night before Christmas and Jimmy is excited. Cookies and hot chocolate are set by the fireplace for Santa, and carrots are left for the reindeer just in case they are hungry on their long flight. Dressed in his one piece pajamas, with candy canes on them, he is almost ready for bed.
He looks up at his parents and asks if they will read him “The Night before Christmas”—his favorite Christmas book. Of course his parents are more than happy to read to him before he goes to bed, and by the fourth
page he is fast asleep. He dreams about the presents he hopes to get in the morning.
3 am comes quick, and he wakes up staring at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. There is no way that he can go back to bed now, not with possible presents under the Christmas tree.
3:30 am comes around—time to wake up Mom and Dad! Slowly he tip toes into their room hoping not to wake them too abruptly. Tapping his mom on the shoulder, she opens her eyes in shock like there is a burglar in the bedroom. Jimmy whispers, “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas! Wake up!”
His Mother looks at him, still shocked. She looks at the clock quickly realizing that it is too early for Christmas activities to start. “Go back to bed” she whispers, “Santa has come, but we can’t open presents. What happens if he comes back because he forgot something?” She smiles,
walks Jimmy back to bed, and tucks him in tight. She kisses him on his head and he looks at her with his big blue eyes, “I love you Mommy” He falls back to sleep.
Two hours later, at 5:30 am, Jimmy is up again—this time waking up his older sister. “Time for presents! Time for presents!” His mother and father hear him down the hall and know that they can’t wait much longer.
The scene at the Christmas tree is picturesque. The elegant white lights shimmer off of Jimmy’s blue eyes like the sun off of the ocean on a warm summer morning. Finally, it’s Christmas, Jimmy’s favorite holiday. The day begins, and the family begins a Christmas that they will remember forever. The last Christmas that Jimmy will ever have, since he will be diagnosed with cancer 1 month later…
People take their lives for granted… it’s just human nature. Sleep feels too good to wake up in the morning, anger becomes easier than happiness, and complaining about work becomes common talk at the dinner table. They just don’t realize the brevity of life.
We can all learn from Jimmy, including myself. To start with, how many mornings do you have where you wake up just as excited as Jimmy on Christmas morning? The majority of us can think back to Christmas as a kid and remember that feeling. As an adult, however, that excitement just doesn’t come anymore. This reality is sad to say the least. What would happen if you woke up every morning just as excited as Jimmy? How much better would your life be?
Not only do we forget the magic of Christmas morning, we forget that the “full happiness” of life can fall apart in the blink of an eye. I am not talking about the small happiness you feel when you see your child open their first Christmas present or even the joy you feel when you walk your daughter down the aisle. No, I am talking about the “full happiness”—a complete happiness that comes within, a happiness that only occurs when you step back and realize that you have an amazing life and everything is going as perfect as it can be.
In Jimmy’s case, that “full happiness” is taken. With 4 months to live his future of becoming a husband, father, and even middleschooler is a thing of the past. You know what though, he is a fighter and he makes it work. He finds happiness in the smallest things—an ice-cream before bed, a kiss goodnight from his parents, an afternoon with a newly born golden retriever.
We can learn from this. Life is short and full of small moments of happiness. Takes these small moments and turn them into “full happiness”—a happiness in which you can step away from your life and understand that it is great.
So the next time that you don’t want to get out of bed and can’t wake up, think about Jimmy on Christmas morning. Will this be your last “Christmas”? There is no way to answer that question.
I can, however, tell you this—if you live like it’s your last day, than you will be surprised at the joy it will bring you and everyone you come in contact with….
Dave
Very thought provoking!!!