Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year, as it is for many other people. Though, as you grow older, as with other holidays, it seems less and less important. I remember from the ages of 4 to 16 Christmas was something I looked forward to all year. I would relish in the idea of getting a new video game system, or a new bike. I could hardly fall asleep at night, knowing what was coming in the morning. I always hated the people the slept in, that you had to wait for to wake up, just so you can open your presents. Now I am the guy who sleeps in.
From ages 4 to 10 were by far the best, mostly due to the fact that I thought Santa was real. We would put the cookies out Christmas Eve, and low and behold they would be gone the next morning. Clearly there could be no other explanation for the disappearance.
It seemed like Christmas had some sort of spirit to it, with the whirlwind of food, family, presents and whatnought.
Today, I can rarely think of something I even really WANT for Christmas.
Giving people my wish list seems like a chore, and usually results in getting stuff I would usually pick up with my own paycheck.
The food and family are still there, which is probably the most important thing. I have begun to realize that Christmas is really about family, plain and simple. It is the time of year where people feel obligated to spend time with them, most feeling better about it than others.
It's funny that the only day where we seem forced to spend time with one another, happens to be on a day that we give each other presents.
Maybe I am just in a "limbo" so to speak, where I am detached from my family, and lacking a real family of my own. Maybe someday when I decide to have children, it might reignite the magic that Christmas used to have. But for now, I'll have to sit at home sipping on egg-nog watching the Harry Potter movies on ABC for the 15th time.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Religion and McDonald's
When I was about six until about 13 years old I attended church almost every Sunday. I had a holy communion, went to religious study groups, and was a lot more involved in community affairs than I have ever been. I thought back to those times and wondered, what made me such a motivated and religious sprout back then? I thought it may have been for several reasons:
1. For some reason I always liked the part of Mass when people would say "Peace be with you" to one another, and shake each others hands. It seemed like everyone was so happy during that time for no reason - for something as stupid as shaking someones hand.
2. It was a great place to see a lot of my friends from school. Growing up in Folsom, before it became the large community it is now, was much smaller when I was young, and most of the kids I went to school with attended the same church. Often times we would hang out after Mass.
3. It gave me a sense of relief. In confession, I was able to admit all my wrongs in the eyes of God, and be forgiven, kind of like withdrawing money from an ATM. Usually it was about something stupid like cursing in front of my mom, or stealing the last candy bar from the cupboard and not telling anybody.
4. Finally, the king of all reasons: Almost every time we went to church on Sunday, we got the McDonald's breakfast! To me - this was the only real reason to wake up on Sunday at all. The Sausage McMuffin no egg, without a doubt, was the tastiest little devil ever, and paired with hash browns, they made an unstoppable pair.
To be honest, I wasn't that much of a McDonald's fanatic, and I almost never eat fast food now...But there was something about that McMuffin that made the three to four hour excursion more endurable.
Sure, I can be criticized my for lack of real commitment.
But I what I finally understood later in life is that, if I am forced to do something I absolutely no will of doing, there HAS to be some kind of incentive for me TO DO IT! This is the type of person that I have grown to be.
Of course I still help people all the time, most times not ever asking anything in return. I AM A GOOD PERSON!
I think that most people are like this.
Everyone has to be getting something out doing something they don't want to, and if they aren't, they are probably lying. Ironically I haven't had a McMuffin in almost a year now, and have found I have lost my need for them at all.
Maybe this wasn't the best reason to get me to do something, but overall I don't think it did much harm to me in the long run. If someday my children require McDonald's Breakfasts to get straight A's in school, I'll be the first one in the drive-through at 6:00am.
1. For some reason I always liked the part of Mass when people would say "Peace be with you" to one another, and shake each others hands. It seemed like everyone was so happy during that time for no reason - for something as stupid as shaking someones hand.
2. It was a great place to see a lot of my friends from school. Growing up in Folsom, before it became the large community it is now, was much smaller when I was young, and most of the kids I went to school with attended the same church. Often times we would hang out after Mass.
3. It gave me a sense of relief. In confession, I was able to admit all my wrongs in the eyes of God, and be forgiven, kind of like withdrawing money from an ATM. Usually it was about something stupid like cursing in front of my mom, or stealing the last candy bar from the cupboard and not telling anybody.
4. Finally, the king of all reasons: Almost every time we went to church on Sunday, we got the McDonald's breakfast! To me - this was the only real reason to wake up on Sunday at all. The Sausage McMuffin no egg, without a doubt, was the tastiest little devil ever, and paired with hash browns, they made an unstoppable pair.
To be honest, I wasn't that much of a McDonald's fanatic, and I almost never eat fast food now...But there was something about that McMuffin that made the three to four hour excursion more endurable.
Sure, I can be criticized my for lack of real commitment.
But I what I finally understood later in life is that, if I am forced to do something I absolutely no will of doing, there HAS to be some kind of incentive for me TO DO IT! This is the type of person that I have grown to be.
Of course I still help people all the time, most times not ever asking anything in return. I AM A GOOD PERSON!
I think that most people are like this.
Everyone has to be getting something out doing something they don't want to, and if they aren't, they are probably lying. Ironically I haven't had a McMuffin in almost a year now, and have found I have lost my need for them at all.
Maybe this wasn't the best reason to get me to do something, but overall I don't think it did much harm to me in the long run. If someday my children require McDonald's Breakfasts to get straight A's in school, I'll be the first one in the drive-through at 6:00am.
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