Stop the Insanity!

Stop the insanity!

            I know I am dating myself to even reference Susan Powter, but while she seemed a smidge intense (intentional understatement), her catch phrase lives on in my head. “Stop the Insanity.”  Benjamin Franklin defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  Today many people are our shopping to save a few dollars.  They are fighting crowds and wrestling packages into their cars.  Many go in packs and seem to enjoy it together.  And perhaps the savings are significant, but was the purchase as significant as the savings? Christmas morning will come and go and is it the gifts that you remember?  Name 3 gifts that you received last Christmas… do you find yourself saying, “”Was is last Christmas that I got that?”  “What did I give the kids last year?”  Now think back to what Christmas morning felt like.  That feeling of contentment, happiness and joy you can recreate can’t you?  See, it is not about WHAT you bought – chances are if you can’t remember what you received, no one remembers what you gave either.  Christmas is about a feeling, not a thing.  So, stop trying to fulfill some expectation about what someone will receive and think about a memory you will build on Christmas day. I suspect Mary didn’t remember the gold, frankincense and myrrh (all great gifts) nearly as well as she remembered looking into the face of her newborn baby, who had come to save the world.

            I do remember a gift we received last year.  On Christmas Eve Dan gave the kids and I a mission.  We had 30 minutes to solve a puzzle, like a Mission Impossible.  We barely made it in time, so glad the thing didn’t self destruct in my living room.  The gift was an adventure trip to New England, which we took this past summer.  I remember us on the floor as a family trying to solve that puzzle.  We were laughing and guessing and trying to get clues from Dan, the dog nuzzling in on the action. And the memories carry  through to the summer when we took the road trip through New England and all of the places we went to see together; friends in Connecticut, touring Boston, Fenway, Cheers, family in New Hampshire, family in New York and Hershey Park Pennsylvania.  The trip was amazing and it was a family bonding experience.  This year, I look forward to another Mission Impossible – a gift you won’t find in a store on Black Friday.  Stop the insanity – you won’t find Christmas happiness in a store on Black Friday.