Are you an Accidental Grinch?
I’ve decided that some people are a Grinch this time of year, and they don’t even know it. Maybe you’ve seen them around, too.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m both a Dr. Seuss fan, and a fan of both the original animated and the live-action Jim Carey versions of the book. It’s just that I’m not a fan of anyone whose actions and attitudes quash the joy of the holiday season. And I’ve seen way too many of them in recent days.
I do not believe any of these individuals acted in this way with the deliberate intention of slapping the happy out of my holidays. It just had that effect. And maybe the problem is 100% mine. I’ll gladly own that. I may be the real Grinch here. But these are the things I’ve been confronted with in recent weeks:
1. The “You Haven’t Done that Yet”-er: This is the person who either repeatedly checks in with you and your Christmas shopping/decorating progress and grumbles that you are behind according to their schedule. Admittedly, I usually put up my tree the day after Thanksgiving. And as I’m typing this in mid-December I have a space cleared for the tree, but it’s still in the box. In the shed. But why would someone want to guilt me into action on this? I don’t get it. Walk in my shoes, and your tree might be in a box, too. And it very well may stay there. It won’t be the end of the world. Christmas is more than a tree.
2. The “I Volunteered You to Do This”-er: This is the grinch who helps infuse you with additional holiday spirit by telling a third party that you will do X, Y or Z by a certain date – all without consideration of your personal schedule. What is so sly about this grinch is that it usually is to help others, so you feel guilty about complaining or backing out. It would just be nice to be ASKED instead of being told. Does this make any sense, or am I the only one who feels this way? Yes, Christmas should be a season of giving. Just please don’t give away MY time. Thank you.
3. The “Christmas Music Hater”: This grinch posts on social media how they hate this song or that one. They ask others to post their ‘love to hate’ songs. They grumble about the music played in stores. They fuss about how early some people start listening. They complain about new versions of old favorites or about NO versions of old favorites. I’m sorry, but Christmas isn’t Christmas without music. Get over it. Or buy noise cancelling headphones.
4. The “I Only Say Happy Holidays”-er: I don’t know about you, but I still say ‘Merry Christmas.” I don’t care if I’m being politically incorrect or not. This just grates on me. I refuse to let the world remove Christ from my Christmas. And it leads me to the greatest offender…
5. The “Commercializer”: This is the one that saddens me the most. This individual is so wrapped up in presents (pun intended) that they have completely missed the point of CHRISTmas: Celebrating the birth of Christ, the Son of God. To them, the day is only about giving or getting the perfect gift. They are blind that the gift was given to us. The Gift was Jesus. The Gift was forgiveness – undeserved and unearned.
De-grinch yourself.
I’ve decided that I’m going to de-grinch myself. Feel free to join me. I’m going to play my Christmas music – classics old and new – as loud as I can stand. I’ll get my tree up at some point. Or I won’t. And I won’t feel guilty about it either way. I’ll put a smile on my face and accomplish what someone ‘voluntold’ me to do.
But every chance I get, I’m going to worship the One who was the original Gift of Christmas. Thank you, Jesus.
Thanks for stopping by to hear me vent today. Merry Christmas. I’ll be back in 2018 with a Art/Weather update and info on the new publication date of my next novel.
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