The Days and Weeks After
It’s often said that the saddest day of the year is December 26th. The new gifts lose their luster and trees and garland are flung back into old boxes where they will sit until the next Christmas Season comes racing at us again. To me, that’s a sad day. But what about the Friday after Thanksgiving? The infamous “Black Friday.” I think this day rivals Dec. 26th in terms of sadness, and here’s why–
Thanksgiving. A day dedicated to gratitude and appreciation. A day where we spend time with others around us who we love, eating, sleeping, watching football, and expressing thanks for what we have. A day where we can see that all we have been blessed with is great and that we indeed are thankful for it. What a warm and fuzzy feeling this invokes, right? Full of turkey… watching our loved ones leave… stuffing leftovers in the fridge… getting ready to take it easy for the rest… of… the night…BAM. The clock strikes midnight. Welcome to Black Friday.
Black Friday. A day where the deals become more important than our ideals. A day where everything we thought about just yesterday flys out of our ears and our mind fixates on what we don’t have. The gratitude and appreciation is gone and what remains is the age-old, bank-account-ruining, urge to shop. We rush out into the early hours of the morning to find the best sales on what we so desire. Sometimes this rush extends past that Friday morning. It may extend on into December where we become focused on giving and getting gifts but never taking the time to appreciate what gifts we’ve already been given.
There’s nothing wrong with saving money at the Black Friday sales, but we can’t allow ourselves to get caught in a “Black Friday” mindset in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. Remember to be thankful this year as we approach Christmas. Sing some carols, eat plenty of cookies, and enjoy the anticipation as we prepare to celebrate the greatest gift that could ever be given. Don’t let the hustle and bustle get in the way of your Christmas spirit. In the days and weeks after Thanksgiving, get ready to be merry and bright, be thankful for everything we have and hope that our Christmas is white.