It's That Time of Year Again...

Is it just me or do the stores try to shove the holidays in your face earlier each year? Around here at least one radio station has started playing Christmas music 24/7 a mere day after Halloween, actually it was more like minutes. Now I love the Christmas songs and decorations those are my favorite but when did it become so commercialized? Always, probably and I am just to naive toalways see it. It is so much more about who has spent the most instead of time with loved ones. If you are able and want to spend money on gifts for people I think that's great but when it's to the point of just bragging about it than no I don't uunderstand that. But I don't understand bragging anyway but that's a whole other thought. For me it isn't about the gifts, I actually dislike when people ask me what I want because I just don't know what to say. I don't want people to waste their money on me they should spend it on themselves. With that being said I truly am grateful and appreciate when people do think of me and get me a gift because it is the thought that counts. It shows they saw something and thought of me and got it for me. With the stores playing Christmas music and putting up signs of how many Fridays are left before Christmas I can't fully enjoy the holiday season anymore. All I feel is pressure to buy items and my poor brain is at a loss of what to get anyone. I did buy one gift today not sure I'm completely happy about it but it should work. I would like to add one last thought to all of this. We all need to remember this is a difficult time of year for many folks. There's nothing like the holidays to make you miss loved ones that have passed away more than just about any time of the year. So if you have a friend, neighbor, co-worker or family member that has a difficult time around the holidays why don't you take the time to stop by or call and at least say hello, it could make a bigger difference then you can imagine to let them know they have someone to talk to and perhaps for the briefest of moments take their thoughts off of the hurt. And perhaps you could even remember the homeless shelters and donate any of those blankets or coats you never use or wear anymore. I plan on doing that this year. It is the least I can do because no one deserves to be cold or not have a good coat to wear and I can't say someone should donate items or their time without being willing to do so myself. Whatever you do for the holidays and no matter how fast the stores and time itself tries to rush it remember that the people you are buying the gift for are more important then what you buy and making memories with them will last much longer and make a bigger impact then that great find in the store.