A Message for Christmas and the New Year

I have come to believe that happiness, satisfaction, and success can be attained through the concepts of forgiveness and gratitude. We have all been wronged and we have all wronged others. We could all be bitter… every one of us.

However as we charge toward the new year and enjoy the Christmas holiday, I am reminding myself that those who have done things to me, didn’t do them because they wanted to be evil. They did them because from their perspective they were in the right. Even if their actions are objectively indefensible, nobody hurts someone else because they desire destruction… they do it because they are acting in their own self interest. And in the rare exceptions that prove that rule, I’ll just give the benefit of the doubt.

This isn’t benevolence on my part. It’s self serving. Anger is far too heavy of a load to carry. I continually have to put it down or I will be crushed under it. So once again, down it goes. I don’t go so far as to love my enemies… I haven’t quite figured that one out yet. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to carry their trespasses into the future. All those transgressions, whatever they might have been, own a small part of my past, but I will not allow them into my present or my future.

The second key to success, satisfaction, and happiness is gratitude. I am so grateful for what I have. I am grateful for my experiences, good and bad. I am grateful for my education and my family and friends. I am grateful for my job and the opportunities on the horizon. I am grateful for the second chances I’ve gotten and the times when people simply helped me out… not because I deserved it, but just because they wanted to.

We aren’t guaranteed anything in this world… not respect, not fairness, not love, not justice, not even safety. We certainly aren’t guaranteed success and happiness. But here I am, successful and happy, healthy, loved, and respected… and I wan’t owed a bit of it.

As we head into 2022, I am grateful for that. And if you are like me, you should be too.

Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year!

Next Article!

I’m really enjoying researching and writing my next article which should be out Wednesday or Thursday. It’s a look at how society suffers when we give up our own decision making abilities to the decrees of experts. And no… it’s not all about COVID.

I hope you enjoy it when it comes out!

Happy Monday all!

—V