I'm not sure how many more posts I'll get in before the end of the year..... I hope that next year is a little quieter, a little less busy and a whole lot less stressful!
Today while I was wrapping Christmas presents for my wife, I listened to some Christmas carols. The disc that was playing was one of the first Christmas cd's we got when we first moved in to a horrible little rental property about 11 years ago.
I remembered that we moved in just before Christmas. God it was horrible little house! We sweated during summer and almost froze during winter! It was drafty and the windows would leak when it rained, the carpet and the curtains were also threadbare.
We didn't have much money back then and our furniture was either 2nd hand or hand me downs or from bargain style shops. We had a small inexpensive tree which we put our presents under and we listened to Christmas carols right through December. At Christmas would would drive from The Blue Mountains to Sydney on Christmas Eve and stay with my parents. Christmas Eve night we would visit my aunt and uncle with the rest of the family and have something of a Christmas party. We gave gifts away as we went, they were never extravagant, they were usually just small items that let people know that we had not forgotten them at Christmas and that we considered them friends and family.
After the party we would go back to my parents to go to bed. Christmas day we would visit another aunt and then visit my wife's family. Then we would trek back to my parents house for Christmas lunch. Late on Christmas Day, we would pack the car and drive back to our little rental property.
We used to get so excited around Christmas.... We would spend hours either Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, putting up decorations, listening to carols etc But as the years go by, especially the last three years..... Christmas doesn't really do it for us anymore.
This year we did our shopping mostly online and we only listened to Christmas carols yesterday 17/12. I guess since my sister and her religious beliefs caused a massive family fall out, Christmas has not been the same.
Sorry! I should have straightened the star!
We have still decorated the house, mind you, we did it the 2nd week of December... Not the first, which is when we used to do it. This year, Christmas will consist of my wife working a 12 hr shift, I will see her Boxing Day, we will then go and visit some really good friends of ours and have Christmas Lunch on Boxing Day. There will be no trips to my aunt and uncles for a Christmas Eve party as my aunt has since passed away. There will be hanging out at my parents house, as the relationship that my Mother and I once had, has been permanently destroyed by a very selfish sister.
Life seemed more simple when we didn't have much. Is it a coincidence that Christmas used to be great when we didn't have much or that we enjoy it less now that we have more? Are the two related or is my brain just linking them for some weird reason? I'm sorry if you're confused lol I'm probably not making much sense.
It just seems odd, that now that my wife and I have well paying jobs and that we have a nice house (purchased), life is comfortable....... Yet we don't enjoy Christmas all that much anymore.
Do our living conditions reflect the relationships we have with other people? If I have less, will people see me as a better person or less threatening? If I appear to have more, does this encourage hostility from others?
I can't help but see some connection between the two..... Maybe I am over thinking the situation....Perhaps it's simply a case of the older we get the more we earn, so naturally we will have more of either possessions or money. Plus with age, we become a little more wise about who we are willing to share our time with.....? I don't know!!!
Anyway, I have written enough for one day and tied my brain in enough knots!
Have a Great Weekend!!