We can agree that from all the national holidays combined, none other compares to Christmas. The cool gifts, the home cooked meals, and family. Who in their right mind could resist the lures of this wonderful occasion? Me that’s who the holidays aren’t the same anymore people come on! Around this time of year I find myself wanting to get out of Dodge away from the traditional hustle and bustle.

I had thought about going down to the local shelter and volunteering. Pitching in to help others in need always seem to help the human spirit. But for years I’ve managed to put it off and pulled the checkbook out. Making my yearly donations to various charities.

Another idea came to mind the other day. Good old fashion Christmas music. It makes the world go around. So I immediately dusted off a cd that I bought at a gas station years ago and popped it in.

Problem solved right? Not exactly because to me everything sounded the same. I enjoy the greats like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and the legendary Burl Ives. But I realized the problem dwelled much deeper. I read somewhere that more people are depressed and suicidal during this time of year than any other. Thank goodness I’m not that bad off, not even close.

But let’s take a closer look at some things that may have contributed to my holiday spirit decline. And please feel free to raise your hand if any of them apply to you.

Well let’s see, as I got older the present count has gotten extremely low. So of course my Christmas list suffered its own recession. When I was a kid I didn’t have to worry about giving out gifts. I’d just grab some colored construction paper and some crayons. Write Merry Christmas in my best hand writing and call it a day.

Now I’m the one dishing out the Christmas gifts. Once I had children that promotion was inevitable. The problem I have is that everything is so commercialized. It alone has single handedly sucked the meaning right out of the season. And there is no happy medium. Either I’m cutting corners and trying to buy inexpensive gifts that are so cheesy. Or, being the thoughtful person I am and getting the good gifts that are too expensive. It’s absolutely ridiculous, I can’t win for losing. I’ve been living here in the great southern city of Atlanta for about four years now. And I can tell you that there are a few things that can cause a major traffic jam in an instant. One are rainy days, followed by the endless highway construction. Last, a common ten car pile up on I-75. We are notorious for our traffic. Now Black Friday can be added to the list for its contribution to the road rampage. I don’t know about you, but sitting in traffic for hours can take me right out the mood. Honking my horn and swearing at a total stranger isn’t exactly displaying peace on earth now is it?

And this year there are new kids on the block that’s attacking the holiday spirit. Their names are Recession and Unemployment. Make yourself real familiar with them, because they are going to be around for awhile. We all are feeling their one, two punch combo. Let’s all do the simple math together. No job plus no money equals no presents. Square that time no bills getting paid. Equals lights out, literally.

Well if I didn’t know any better, I’d assume after reading my article, you too might be in the same mood as I am. Here’s the thing, if you can deal with all the ups, downs, twist, and turns of the season, you have plenty of holiday cheer. So my Christmas list has one thing on it this year. And that is a big helping of holiday spirit. If anyone has any to sell, I’m open to fair offers.

At a reasonable price of course!

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Email Gregory Brooks: bgregory13@yahoo.com

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