Christmas.
It’s the day of the year where Christians all around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The up-and-coming savior who would then die on the cross to save humanity from evil. We celebrate the coming with joy, with the careful expectations that the going will soon follow, the Passover. Starts and ends. If only we were careful enough to notice, the pattern repeats everywhere, and there’s something about it that really stirred my mind.
It is in our nature that we love the beginning, and resent the ending. As newborns bring joy with unfulfilled potentials they carry into the world, we grieve for the death of loved ones, for unfulfilled potentials they failed to capitalize. In every beginning, hopes are shooting high and even the smallest token of promising gestures are somehow overstated. The notion of ‘what could’ve been’ have permeated in our judging minds, both for ourselves and for others. I could’ve been better but I wasn’t. He should’ve been more respectful to others, but he wasn’t. It’s the discrepancies between what we thought was achievable and what we actually realized in the end.
As I have noticed in the past years, nearing the end of the year, my mind shifted to a more reflective setting, weighing in achievements and transgressions of mine during the year. And if I am honest, hopelessness has been a familiar friend I invited over for Christmas for quite some years now. The idea of ‘finishing on a high’ I planned on every new year celebrations started to grow further apart.
Now what was I missing here?
Should I set a bar lower than I used to?
Not necessarily. I realized something along the way. Set your goals as high as shooting stars, dream higher than you are after those countless shots of tequila, but at the same time, be mindful of the steps you take. Dissect your goals to a purpose, for fulfilling purposes are more satisfying than reaching the stars, and learn to celebrate even the smallest victories. Check your rearview mirror sometimes, to remind how far you’ve gone. Gratefulness is the way to go.
Now as we’re coming closer to the end of unprecedented 2020, the year like no years before. There may be some unfinished businesses, some unfulfilled potentials, or even some lost things. I know by heart that it’s easier said than done, but let’s try to reflect on what 2020 has allowed to happen, aside from what 2020 could’ve been.
An Epicurean definition of a happy life is the one where we abstain from unnecessary desires and achieve inner tranquility by being content with simple things.
Let’s celebrate small victories, and let Him have His way.
Luke 1:38
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.
“May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Then the angel left her.
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