Don't let depression or sadness this year ruin your holiday

Good Morning and Happy Sunday to all of you! Today's post is more of a thought than a happening. This post is aimed at all of your young and old who are feeling the holiday economic woes. You know of whom I speak of. All of us know the feeling you are now feeling, then bitterness, the sadness, the fear. One thing I know is persepctive means everything. When you are feeling down, look around you, at others who are facing the same or worse than yourself. Go to them, speak to them. A wise elf once said that the way to conquor your own sadness is by helping another worse off than yourself. In that moment you realize just how blessed you are. I recieved a call the other day from a young man no more than 30 who had been involved in an fortunate accident, thereby losing all feeling from the neck down. He had up until that point what he thought was everything, great job, nice house, luxery car, nice family. Soon, he lost all of it over the bitterness he allowed to consume him from within. His family tried so hard to reach out to him, but he pushed this away time and again. His job required all of his bodily functions and though disibility insurance helped he soon lost it too. The house, the car, left only with his parents, his old pickup truck and his woes. But you know what happened next? Through the goodness of others and the Lord's will, he discovered something. There were others out there just like himself, some worse. He soon became involved in a volunteer group that his father had told him about, helping out others through lectures, telling his story, just talking to others who were facing the same struggles. Soon his bitterness turned to thankfulness, and his misfortune, a valuable lesson to others. His wife returned, his job now was that of speaker, counselor, mentor. When I spoke to him, the voice on the other line wasn't angry, or sad, or even lonely. It was that of praise for those who had it worse off than he had. It was a voice who praised God daily for the opportunity to help others who otherwise would have been lost. He soon realized that he wasn't the victim in this strange unanswered chain of events that took him down a dark road, but instead he was the guide for others to follow, the light that gave them hope and understanding when there were no answers to be found.
I came away from that conversation a more thankful person. Not thankful, that I was able to use all my hands and arms, but that I had the chance to speak to him, to talk to someone who actually gets what life is truly about. During this Holiday season, most of all, let us not dwell on our own mistfortunes or bad luck, or complain that we don't have enough, for look through the window of someone elses's troubles and uncover ways to make their day a little better. Don't dwell always on those who have more than we..for when you see through the glow of the lights, there well may be a dark corner where they truly set, alone, unhappy, selfish or filled with bitterness. Those are the one's who need cheering up the most.

So find the inner elf within you and find someone who needs a friend, a conversation, a gift from the heart. It may just be the medicine to cure your own Holiday woes..