Happy Holidays to All!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
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Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope this message finds you all celebrating this sacred and special time of year with joy and abundance. While the Holidays are a time for good cheer and happiness, many of you might be experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, or even panic entering into the Holiday season. Basically, it can sometimes be hard to find the “HAPPY” in the customary “Happy Holiday” greeting. The demands, obligations, holiday travel, coping to be with the family, or perhaps remembering loved ones who are no longer with you, these all can contribute to the Holidays being one of the most stressful and anxious times of year. It is during these tough economic times that you might be additionally burdened with lack of means to celebrate the Holidays, as you once were accustomed. For some of you, this could mean cutting back on gifts for the kids, not having the money to visit your relatives, or quite possibly spending the Holidays literally without a home. All of these factors can make us feel unworthy or ashamed for not having enough!
If this rings a bell for you, please know that despite all the hardship and lack you might experience, I encourage you to be grateful for all that you do have! In our consumerist culture, the Holiday season is predominantly about shopping and gifting. While it’s perfectly fine to do so, we sometimes get trapped into the belief that the larger or more expensive the gift, the greater the expression of love it conveys. Contrary to what we hear and see on TV, billboards, and the internet, this time of year is not about getting the best deals or wanting the perfect present from your partner, spouse, or parent. Rather, it is a time to pause and reflect on all that truly brings value in your life. As I like to say the key to happiness and true joy is, "Don’t Buy More, Just Be More!” A phrase that is even more relevant during the Holidays.
I’d like to share a brief lesson regarding the ancient origin and meaning of the Holiday season. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or partake in the Holiday spirit, there is a very interesting history behind the sacredness of this time of year. Well before Christmas was established to fall every year on Dec. 25th, several early cultures and religions marked this holy time of the year. (In fact, the word holiday derives from the term holy day). It might surprise some to know that the date of Christ’s birth and of Christmas was actually decreed in 350 CE by Pope Julius I to coincide with the ritual celebrations of the indigenous European religions, in the hope to convert them to Christianity. The festival that we today know as Christmas actually has its origins in the Winter Solstice, the day marking the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Around Dec. 21st, ancient people in pre-Christian Europe and the Middle East commemorated this day as the renewal of the sun and the increase of light on the planet.
Another Holiday festival, the Twelve Days of Christmas, also has an astronomical origin. Since the lunar calendar is shorter than the solar calendar by about 11-12 days, this gap between the two systems had to be reconciled in the timekeeping of many cultures. The answer was to make these “twelve days” special and appear to be outside of normal time, a period that was considered to be sacred and holy.
The point is that the Holidays were never meant to be about getting the best shopping deals or having to buy the most expensive present to convey your love to those in your life. As you celebrate the Holiday season, I invite you to remember one very important point—the best gift you can ever give or receive is not measured by what you buy or do; the best gift is sharing your light and joy with others. In essence, despite the tough economic times you might be experiencing right now, always remember to be grateful for what you have in life. The best gifts you can ever give or receive are the love of your family, joy of friends, blessings for good health, and the gratitude for what you have. On an interesting side note, studies now indicate that there is a direct correlation between our level of gratitude with our happiness! A finding from the University of Miami actually suggests that the more gratitude we express, the better is our general state of health and wellbeing. Read full article here.
So as you celebrate the Holidays, whether it’s Christmas or Hanukkah, learn to experience the HAPPY in these Happy Holidays! As I like to say, “Gratitude turns WHAT YOU HAVE into enough, creates contentment for WHAT IS, and manifests greater joy for WHO YOU ARE!”
Have a beautiful, joyous, abundant Holiday season as you keep on Living Your Light® with gratitude, abundance, and plentitude for all that you have.
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
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