Happy Holiday... in April?

Ummmmm... seems that around 3:00 this afternoon a post from me went out like firecrackers to anybody who is subscribed to this blog or who recieves it through a feed. If you have been with me all winter, you also saw this post in December entitled "An Important Reminder," and, ahem, it contains a Christmas tree!

My first thought was Oh my gawd how did that go out again?

Just a short time earlier, I'd spoken with a friend-- let's call him Kevin, whose been living a new life over the past few weeks -- a life of sobriety.

He shared that over the last week, he ran into a barage of experiences and people who were not just dismissive of common courtesy, like saying thank you as he held the door, but they were rude. Then a friend lied to him. And somewhere in the mix of his experiences of people, of trying to be there for friends in need, of work -- of his new life -- he felt his own sense of worth being swallowed up.

Holding the door is a good thing, but as I listened, I realized that in some way I'd live my life the same way: invested in how others responded to and felt about me. It has taken me my entire life to ask the question: How do I feel about me... apart from everybody else's report?

On its face, pleasing others sounds right. It's good to make others happy. But when pleasing others is the fuel that starts your engines each day, you are in big trouble when you cannot make others happy, or when they are miserable, or when they are rude, or when they lie.

I went into the old post to look at the setting -- there is no explanation for it. The title to the post was "An Important Reminder." Beneath the totally inappropriate holiday greeting that went out to all of you are these appropriate words:

"You are God's gift to the world."

Hold that thought today and do not ever forget it as you go out into the world. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand enjoy the season!