Birthday and Christmas Wishes

In the past for me, this has been a season of worldly possessions and selfishness. My birthday is Sunday the 19th, and then Christmas comes about a week later. It used to be that I focused on what I would 'get' and what people would do for me.

I remember one year I got mad at my mother because she made me walk home from school in the rain on my birthday. When I got home I really let her know how I felt, only to realize that the reason she didn't pick me up was because she was baking my birthday cake. Experiences like that and one experience that happened just recently have made me reflect on my motives during this time of year.

A person in my theatre department lost his father on Friday night in a car accident. I first felt sorrow for him and then guilt. I thought that it was weird. Why should I have felt guilty? I think it was because I had been so focused on myself that when brought to the knowledge of someone else's suffering, I realized where my focus had been.

Every year we hear stories about how peoples lives change because they realize what the real meaning behind the season is. I mean, "It's A Wonderful Life" is all about that. I don't think those kinds of movies and stories would effect us the way they do if they didn't convey some amount of truth.

Hopefully, this Christmas season I'll be able to focus on what I can do to help others and ease their burdens. That is how you can truly become happy.