REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
This is not going to be a typical Christmas column.
It also may not appear to have much to do with life in Botswana. Not at first, anyway. That’s because I want to start with a tale about something that happened to me over here in England before I started working today.
If you’ve been watching Christmas films, you know it’s winter now in the northern hemisphere, and you also know it’s a great deal colder here than where you will be reading this. As a matter of fact, it was seven degrees below zero at 8am when I went out to the car this morning, so I had to scrape a sheet of ice off my windows before I could drive to my office.
But I’m not looking for sympathy because, while I was chipping away, I felt cheered by the fact my car had started with the first turn of the key… something that does not always happen when the temperature drops below freezing. I was also pleased to see my neighbour was smiling as she hacked away at her windscreen.
But then again, Hazel always seems to have a smile on her face, even though she and her husband have some serious medical issues. She hadn’t set off for work yet when I got going, so I rolled down the electric window as I pulled-up to her and we had a chat about the weather. But it wasn’t a moan. Instead, Hazel said she enjoys how clean the air smells at this time of year and how clear the sky tends to be when it gets really cold.
Then, as I set off to start this column, I tried to close the window. This is the part where I’m tempted to look for sympathy because the glass wouldn’t budge. But as the icy wind blew past my right ear, I held onto my cheery mood by focusing on Hazel’s approach to life, and I even managed a laugh when the window finally agreed to close as I pulled into my parking space half-an-hour later. It felt like
Someone, or Something, was trying to make a point.
The reason I’m telling you this is because Christmas is a time for exchanging gifts, and the original purpose of that exercise was to make both the givers and recipients happy. But buying gifts can be expensive, both in time and money, and the run-up to Christmas can become a strain. So, I wanted to remind you that the most important gift we can give to anyone… including ourselves, is happiness.
Hazel showed me once again that each of us can decide to be happy regardless of our circumstances and surroundings. And God, the universe or whatever, allowed me to practice what she taught me before the lesson went cold by freezing my car window open.
Now I’m hoping that experience has allowed me to share what I learned with you. And since being cheerful is contagious, I’m also hoping that when you share it, you will feel even more cheerful yourself.
Happy holidays, everyone.