The Real James Dean » Holidays http://therealjamesdean.com Rebel, still in search of his cause Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:17:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Merry Christmas http://therealjamesdean.com/2008/12/26/merry-christmas/ http://therealjamesdean.com/2008/12/26/merry-christmas/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:03:36 +0000 Dean http://therealjamesdean.com/?p=300 It’s Christmas again, and for once I actually feel like I’m in the spirit of things.  In the past I’ve barely tolerated the season, becoming a “Scrooge” of sorts, refusing to listen to Christmas music and never understanding the lengths people go to in order to decorate their homes.  While I didn’t go out caroling this year, nor did I put up any Christmas decorations, I did feel more cheery than normal.  A lot of things in my life have been moving in a positive direction lately, and it’s affecting my outlook on life I think.  I seem to be more optimistic, and I smile a lot more.  And for those moments when I felt angry and bitter at the world (usually these moments took place while at work), I actually realized it and tried to bring myself back to where I should be.  For once in my life, I actually appreciated Christmas for what it really means and enjoyed it.

I wasn’t worried about gifts this year.  I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on people, so I made dishes of candy for people.  They weren’t anything incredibly fancy, but it’s what I could afford and just about everyone I know loves candy.  For a select few people (Keith and direct family) I bought some gifts.  And while I was buying those gifts, I realized that I wasn’t really concerned about what I’d be getting in return.  Usually I took that into account when buying presents, but this year I just bought what I could afford and what I thought the person would like, then wrapped it up and presented it to them and hoped for the best.  It’s taken a long time, but I think I finally realized that Christmas isn’t about gifts.  Sure, getting presents is nice and you hope you get something you actually like, but that’s not what it’s about.

I prayed this morning on my way over to my dad’s house to celebrate Christmas.  It’s something I don’t do nearly as often as I should, but when I do I try to express myself as best I can.  I thanked God for the Son that was sent to us which eventually inspired the Christmas we all know and love.  I felt silly at first just talking to my car as I drove down the road, but I got used to it and it felt a little more natural.  Maybe I should pray more.

When all was said and done I got some good gifts and some not-so-good gifts.  But the thought behind all of them was what made me enjoy getting them.  I truly enjoyed this Christmas.  I had fun seeing family and spending the day just hanging out and playing games on my brother’s new Nintendo Wii.

I hope that everyone else out there had a wonderful Christmas as well.  Now…where’s that rum cake that I got…?

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