This is a special time of year:

For Christians, Christmas, on December 25th, commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ and is a festive season celebrating the ideals of peace, love and goodwill towards each other.

And Hanukkah — the eight-day festival of light that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, and of spirituality over material is from December 16-23.

And, the winter solstice, in the northern hemisphere on December 22, is the longest period of darkness. It’s almost as if the sun “dies” for three days on December 22 when it stops in it’s movement south, to be born again or resurrected on December 25, when it resumes it’s movement north. In olden times, people did not know if they would survive the time of starvation and darkness of the winter, and marked this time with light and a great feast.

So it’s a great time for reflecting about endings and beginnings.

What did this year mean for you? What happened and what have you learned? And what is next for you?

For those of you struggling in the midst of your Disquiet, these questions can be hard - both to think about and to answer. What is helpful, I have found, is to try to take stock of what you can appreciate in your life - right here, right now. Sometimes, in our struggles, it seems as if we really have nothing to feel good about or grateful to have. This simply is not true. The following is from an article that came across my path. Its author is unknown, but I appreciate the perspective:

“Attitude of Gratitude”

• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep….you are richer than 75% of this world
  
• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and space change in a dish someplace…you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy
• If you woke up this morning with good health you are more fortunate than the million who will not survive the week
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle unfolding all around you, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world
• If you can attend a church meeting without fear of persecution, harassment, arrest, torture, or death…you are more blessed than three billion people in the world
• If your parents are still alive and still married…you are very rare, even in the United States
• If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all

This gives a fresh perspective doesn’t it? So as you wind down this year in this season celebrating light over darkness, goodwill and new beginnings, adopt an “attitude of gratitude”. Stay open to seeing what happens when you do.

Let us know! Share what happens in the comments below. Thanks!

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Tags: Life, Resources, The Disquiet, Working with change, Attitude of Gratitude, change, family, holidays, midlife, midlife crisis, time for reflecting

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 23rd, 2006 at 10:02 am and is filed under Life, Resources, The Disquiet, Working with change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.