2nd January - Todays thought......

Here we are on the 2nd day of a whole new year, not just any year but a leap year as well. This means there are 357 days until Christmas 2008.

Now i appreciate that this sounds like doom and gloom and a suggestion that Christmas is over and it is a whole 357 days until December 25th next. But it is not.......

Let's spend a few minutes looking at where we really are -

• Christmas and all that goes with it is over, this cannot be changed.
• The shops began their sales on Boxing Day (26th December) if the sales had not started before
• Easter Eggs are in the shops, and in some shops (Staples) they were out before Christmas
• A lot of people began work again today
• All of the papers and magazines we read are full of revues of 2007 and how to loose weight in 2008 and be fitter.

I am sure there are lots of other examples to firmly stamp the "end of Christmas" message around.

But is Christmas really over? in essence it is, and January and February are known to be bleak months with long dark nights and cold days as well as not offering a lot to look forwards to. However, and spoken as someone who currently has viewed the glass as half empty, is all really bad?

Open the cupboards in the kitchen, there is still food left from the festivities be it a few sweets, an extra can of beans just in case or some strange delicacy that could not be lived without. Move a sofa or chair and smile when an undiscovered decoration appears to remind.

Think of all the presents received, maybe small like a car cleaning sponge or vast like a new car, but these were bought as the buyer felt they were special. Everytime the car is cleaned the sponge reminds us of Christmas, everytime the new car is driven..... the same.

Christmas has links to lots of festivities, and lots of religious fervour. Maybe Christ was born, maybe pagan rites like the Yule Log will bring a year of peace and calm, maybe a little oil did stay alight for 8 days instead of 2 celebrated is Chanukah, maybe Good did overwhelm Evil in all of us as Diwali says.

All of these beliefs lead to a mid-winter festival of some sort. For ease lots of people say it is Christmas and celebrate on the 24th,25th and 26th of December, other religions celebrate at other times in December.

And so the thought to end on..............

Christmas (or Chanukah, Diwali, Yule or whatever) is not about sales in the shops, it is not about present lists, it is not about "what we didn't get".

I am still young(ish!!) but i remember Sunday closing, surely the shops should be asked to stay closed 25th and 26th December to give shop workers a chance to enjoy as well.

It is about a few days to step off the rounabout and reflect on the year, look towards the next. It is time to spend with or talking to friends and family and being as one, it is a time when magic can happen and sometimes does.

Everyone -of all ages - has a Santa Claus, some just do not realize or recognize him. I might not be a man in a plush red suit, but someone, somewhere is there for all. The "Santa" may just be a smile, it may be a gift.

The skill is recognizing and believing in this that keeps Christmas (or others) alive and well all year and not just for a few days to then be mourned.