Maintaining Serenity in the midst of Holiday Chaos

Well Thanksgiving is over and now we rush headlong into what has become "The Holiday Season".  Can someone please explain to me how we as a society have lost all control over our ability to be nice.  Maybe it's because I don't celebrate Christmas (I am Jewish), I really don't have a concept of the need to be rude and mean to the employees and other customers in the store or driving or in the parking lot.

This is supposed to be a season of giving, giving from the heart and giving from the soul.  I thought it was about sharing and showing people how we feel about them.  If you are rude and mean in order to get that "special gift or toy or perfume or clothing" does it really feel good inside to be rude in order to get what you want.

I have a new job working to raise funds to put solar panels on a remote hospital in The Gambia.  All my life I have taken electricity for granted even when we have power failures for a few days we just find someplace nearby that has power, but in The Gambia hospitals do not have power unless they have installed solar panels and have training on how to maintain them.  The solar panels allow the hospitals to refrigerate vaccines and plug in the incubators.  Do we even think about what our lives would be like without our local hospital having electricity?

As I walked through a parking lot at a local shopping center this evening watching people yelling at their kids, trying to outrun someone for a parking spot that's 2 feet closer to the store, I couldn't help but wonder what their lives would be like without electricity and also do they have any ability to find serenity and joy in their daily lives.

I have a novel idea - let's bring joy, peace, sharing, giving from the heart and love back to our lives.  Not just for this season but for each and every day.

I truly believe that finding a little joy each day will bring serenity into your life.  It has brought it into mine.  And joy can be as simple as a small piece of dark chocolate or snuggling with the cats or a kiss from my husband - this is joy and this is serenity.