Tis the Holiday Season!

Once again, we reach the end of the year.  There is truth to what our parents told us, in that the older we get the quicker time seems to move – even though every day has the same 24 hours!  Starting around Thanksgiving, this is definitely a fun time of the year.  For some, this is a lousy time of the year.  While some people will evaluate what they have not done, others will revel in the things that were accomplished during the year.  Either way, during the next few weeks, enjoying the holiday season will be done side-by-side with much holiday cheer to spread around.

This year, I am apart from my family during some of the eight days of Chanukah.  This is not the first time – sometimes work requires me to travel.  I do enjoy the fact that I can carry a menorah (Hanukiah) with me wherever I may go.  However, it is not the same as lighting the candles as a family, watching the excitement as the girls open theirs gifts, and, believe it or not, watching the dogs wagging their tails with excitement when it is their turn to open a gift.  Before heading out, we kind of lit the candles as a family, even if we had to FaceTime with Bec who is away at school.  Bec is the safety conscious one and always ensures that the candles are properly secured before the first candle is lit.  As when the girls were young, one of them used to blow out the match.  With the distance between us, Bec was still able to blow out the match (yup, some Daddy-magic still exists).

As always, we have choices – either to lament the time we sometimes must be apart from each other, or to hold onto the memories that we have created together.  I always go with the latter.  At the end of the year, the holiday season is a great time to reflect on the previous 11 months.  While the path of least resistance is to “bitch and moan” about missed opportunities, bad choices and spend time playing the blame game, let us all use the time to focus on the things that did come our way this year.  The season of cheer should be filled with remembering the positive things, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem.  This is a good way to reflect on the year and a great way to step into 2019!

Have fun, party responsibly and most important, enjoy your respective holidays…I know that I will as I have many things to be happy about, things I am grateful for and a wonderful family to share my life with.