Holiday Filled with Ethnic and Cultural Diversity
November 22, 2024
Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of the holiday season is the gift of reflection and renewal—the opportunity to become re-energized about the true meaning of life, and our purpose in it.
For a moment, we can put politics aside. We can escape the piles on our desks and the assembly line backlog. For a moment, maybe our troubles will be out of mind and out of sight long enough to allow us time to revisit what we should be about at whatever stage of life we find ourselves.
The gift of reflection and renewal allows you to become re-grounded and re-rooted in your resolve to do what you can to make life better for yourself and others.
We can begin with the obvious. Irrespective of our ethnic group, religious affiliation, or location on the planet, this is the season when we pause to celebrate a major event of spiritual significance in our collective lives. We pay respect, homage, and honor to someone greater than we, who gave and sacrificed much more than we ever would dream of, and whose life and legend we still seek to understand and embrace.
Irrespective of our religious beliefs or how we celebrate the holiday season, a gift of reflection and renewal allows us to understand better and practice the ageless precepts and principles in which we fervently believe.
Gift of Reflection and Renewal
(Photo by nono57/iStock Images)
Let this be our special gift to ourselves to become renewed in our purpose and rooted in our resolve to make things better for ourselves and others.
The presents we exchange, and the meals and festivities we share are mere symbols of what we should be about every day. Every day, we should be giving—giving our time and resources to others to make a difference in their lives, starting with family and spreading abroad.
The holidays, whatever you celebrate, the gift of reflection and renewal will allow us to ponder the goodwill of the season, the generosity of spirit, the gift of sharing—all that we could apply to make good and powerful things happen all year round.
Maybe, amid all of the gaiety and the glitter of the season, if we continue to celebrate the true meaning of the season long after the lights are turned off, long after decorations have been dismantled, long after the ornaments and rituals have been put away, then maybe all the fuss and expense will have been worth it.
What are you really celebrating this season, and, why?
How can you make the celebration even more meaningful in your everyday life?
Amid all the hustle and bustle of the season, we will do well to find a quiet place and ponder its true meaning. Give yourself the gift of reflection and renewal.
What a gift to give to yourself.
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