“When senseless acts of tragedy remind us that
nothing here is promised, not one day…
We lived through times when hate and fear seemed stronger; We rise and fall and
light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer” – Lin Manuel
Miranda
It is so
easy to get caught up in all the glamour of Christmas. As the clock ticks over
to December, it is suddenly so important that we have the brightest Christmas lights,
the tallest Christmas tree with the most presents beneath it. We spend hours on
end at shopping malls, trying to find the perfect present for every person in
our lives. It becomes so easy to be very narrow minded, to think only about our
own situation and not to consider that of others. This year specifically it is
so important that we change that mentality.
· Right now, a large portion of our
country is on fire
· Just over night, two Rural Fire Service volunteers lost their lives trying to save the homes of people they didn’t
even know.
· In the 2019-2020 Bushfire season, it
is estimated that there have been upwards of 2500 homes and buildings lost. And
we are only at the beginning of a very long, hot summer.
· An extreme drought is forcing farmers across the country to kill their own livestock.
· It is predicted that entire towns
may have no access to fresh drinking water in just a few months.
· The country is blanketed in a thick
layer of smoke day in and day that does just as much damage
to our lungs as smoking 38 cigarettes would.
· As of the 2016 census, 116,427
individuals were living without a home. Just as many, if not more people could
be left on the streets, alone this Christmas.
· In addition to this, it is estimated
that 13.2% of our entire population is living below the poverty line.
The 2 most
important things we can be at Christmas time is grateful and benevolent. Being generous
does not end with our friends and family. If you can afford to spend hundreds
of dollars on the people closest to you, you can afford to give just the
smallest amount to the people who need it even more. If you can’t, then give
your time or even just your thoughts and prayers to those who will not be
having such a merry Christmas this year. So, while we all sit around our Christmas
tables, sharing stories and eating way more food than we probably should, spare
a moment to think about those who aren’t so lucky this year. Keep them in your
thoughts and be grateful for every single little thing you have.
I knew a
person once, and the story that follows may give you some indication of why I
am using the past tense when speaking of them. Every single Christmas and
Birthday he would whinge and complain that he had not received as big a present
as his two brothers. Now I am sure that something like that might be hurtful, I
can see how it can make you feel like you aren’t as loved as they are but at
the same time… GET OVER YOURSELF!! Oh, and he didn’t just complain to me about
it, he complained directly to his parents!! Every year I would raise the same
issue. “There are people who have literally nothing at all and you are
complaining about getting less than your brothers when you know full well your
parents are struggling?” and every year it was met with the same grunt of disapproval
and a swift change of subject. What this person failed to recognise, but what I
saw quite clearly even from a distance was that he worked full time while his
brothers didn’t work at all. So yeah, obviously, they got more, because the others
couldn’t buy things for themselves. Is that fair? Probably not. But is that the
thought process of a parent struggling to get through the week let alone the Christmas
period? Of course, it is!
We see it
every year in viral Buzzfeed posts - 21 ungrateful brats and their “horrible” Christmas
presents – from teenagers complaining that their mother got them the wrong
colour iPhone to grown women who publicly shame their fiancé for the size of
the engagement ring they were given. It is one big epidemic of ungratefulness
and complete apathy toward the struggles of the less fortunate.
Being
ungrateful for the things we are given is one of the most hurtful things you
can do to a person who has put time, effort and thought into buying you a gift.
Sure, we have all opened a present on Christmas morning and have had to pretend
that we love it when it is quite literally the last thing we would have bought
ourselves, but you keep it to yourself! You don’t walk around bitching about it
for the next year making the person who bought it feel bad the whole time. You
try to get as much use out of it as possible and in the worst-case scenario,
you give it to charity or someone that you know would like it so that someone else
can get more use out of it than you could.
Of course, this is something that
most people know. Most humans are overwhelmed with a desire to help others at
their time of need, and there is something about Christmas that brings this out
even more. So whether it is donating to charity, volunteering at a homeless
shelter, giving away old clothes and toys to op shops, or giving your leftovers
to those on the street rather than throwing it in the bin, I implore you to give
into these very natural desires that are part of what makes up our humanity.
Pay it forward, help those who have helped you, help those who need it most
because you never know when you might get stuck in the same position as they
are.
Nothing on in
this life is promised, not a single day, you don’t know what tomorrow brings.
The thought of that can send me and so many other down a deep, dark spiral of
anxiety if you let it control your mindset, or you can use that to fuel your
fire to make changes in your own life and in the lives of those who are not as
lucky as you this year.
Wishing you
all the Merriest of Christmases, cherish the time you have with your loved ones
and, no matter how hard the struggle is, never forget how lucky you are to just
be alive.
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