Thanksgiving Is In the Rear View Mirror

​Today is Monday, December 1, the first day of Meteorological Winter, and we have finally glutted ourselves with the bounty of Autumn. We can say goodbye to turkey, cranberries, stuffing, turnips and mashed potatoes, and set our sights, and olfactories, on gingerbread, peppermints, balsam, pine, rainbow cookies, fruit and spice cake, and of course, the scenes created by colorful and pretty lights.

We are certainly well into the 2025 Holiday Season, where we celebrate Hanukkah. Christmas, the Winter Solstice, and Festivus For the Rest of Us. Oh, and the saying goodbye to the current year as we welcome the positive outlook for 2026.

We will begin to think about our New Year Resolutions, making promises to ourselves to be better people  than we were this year. But we know that these are usually hard to keep for long, like the promise to diet, or stop smoking, or drinking, or even join a gym to build a better body.

We all have failed to keep one or more of these self-centered promises because we are people of a free will, and we are tempted to please ourselves, even in a moment of weakness. And we feel guilty later.

But we are also the most social of all of God’s creations, with the ability and wherewithal to help others less fortunate than ourselves. With that said, it may be easier to give unto others, like donating time, or food, or used, still serviceable clothing to help those in need.

Making a resolution like this, keeping it even one time, is  a better attempt to make good on a promise than trying to lose twenty pounds, knowing you will only gain it back in short order. And you will feel better about yourself for keeping it, knowing you helped someone else.

So, as we begin this season, you know, season of peace on earth and good will to all, let us promise to each other that we will remember to be a little kinder, since we don’t know everything which each other is facing to get through their own lives. 

THAT would be our first of many resolutions we would make and complete to make us all a little better as people. Happy Holidays!