Christmas is for joy and appreciation

BY HENRY UKAZU

Dear Destiny Friends,

It’s that time of the year again when Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s Christmas!

Without mincing words, the season of Christmas comes with a special kind of feeling, and many people celebrate it in different ways. Some people celebrate it by spending a chunk of all they have laboured all through the year, while others celebrate it by traveling to be with loved ones.

One thing is sure however, Christmas is a season of love, joy, celebration, and thanksgiving. Some even celebrate it by reconciling with estranged friends, partners and family members.

Christmas comes with many reflections. While some are in a joyful mood, others revel in mourning or stock-taking moods. In all, great minds are always grateful for all the experiences they encountered during the year whether negative or positive, they believed it is a learning curve for them, but small and ungrateful minds will always find reasons to complain instead of fixing a problem.

The focus of this article is to celebrate life, celebrate achievements, celebrate family, friends, work, and even pain.

It is sad to note that most times we don’t take time to appreciate what we have, we tend to focus on what we lack. That’s human nature for you though. We fail to realize that not only do we attract what we focus on, what we focus on expands.

Celebrating life doesn’t entail buying luxuries, eating large, traveling or engaging in wasteful spending. While it is not a crime or sinful to give yourself such a treat if you have the means, it’s important to note that celebrating life entails showing love to the less privileged, to those who can’t afford the basic needs of life and celebrating people who made the year blissful for you. When you look at your environment, you will see people who need assistance, and your kind words, encouragement, food, money, etc. will go a long way to put smiles on their faces.

The year 2021 was truly an eventful one. Many businesses struggled because of the Coronavirus, many lives were lost, but even at that, there were success stories of great men and women who dared to succeed. They were not affected by the vicissitudes of life. They know that life will surely happen, but they prepared their mindset for the best while expecting the worst.

On a personal note, 2021 was an interesting year for me because of many experiences, opportunities and revelations that came my way. Above all, I am grateful I was able to finish strong. I don’t know what your storyline might be but I just want you to take time to appreciate the fact that you are alive and you have the capacity to attract what you desire if you are determined to work for your desires.

The biggest fun of celebrating Christmas is the fact that you are alive. Regardless of what your situation might be might, there’s somebody out there who is experiencing a greater challenge than you and keeping up a great attitude. The goal, therefore, is to be happy you are alive, your family is alive, your friends and loved ones are alive. I say this because provided there’s life, there’s hope. There were stories of wealthy people who passed on and their family and friends are grieving their loss.

So, as you plan to celebrate your Christmas, please take time to think of other people who might not be celebrating like you. Even if you can’t support them, offer a kind word by using empathy and emotional intelligence.

I strongly believe there’s something everyone is grateful for. Take time to reflect on the great strides you made in 2021, whether it is the fact that you got a job, graduated, married, began a business, had a baby, got admission, traveled, met a new friend, mentor, mentee, or for the mere fact you have eyes to see, mouth to eat and talk, legs to walk, hands to feel and ears to hear. Don’t you think it’s worth celebrating? Can money purchase them?

In conclusion, don’t allow anyone to make you feel inferior because of what they are showcasing. Nothing is permanent in life. In life, there’s no competition though overtaking is allowed. Most people who might have the goodies of life, might not be as happy as you. So, celebrate yourself if nobody celebrates you. If you say, you have nothing to celebrate, that means you have an ungrateful mind.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a human capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via [email protected]