Merry Christmas!

Christmas is a funny time of year... It's supposed to be a time we share with family, but sometimes it's more important making it a time where you find yourself at your happiest... and if family isn't the place that you can embrace the Christmas spirit, then you have to enjoy it for what you can make it... if it's with family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours or simply enjoying the people that surround you everyday.

Talking to so many people over the year about their priorities when it comes to their own well-being,  and it seems like happiness overwhelms all other emotions and relationships. I think there's a unanimous agreement as we leave 2013 that we realise that politics - if it's family politics, neighbourly politics or even government politics is in the too hard basket and no matter what relationship is involved within the dynamics of the politics, we would rather allow those people to create their own problems so we can focus on the positive aspirations, joyful times and make memorable moments without someone throwing a spanner in the mix with their jealousy, hatred or steely looks of disapproval.

For me, Christmas is a time to give to those who I appreciate. Most people who help me over the year get a heart-felt thanks, a warm hug or some time for a chat, but I can't give anything back to them, especially being a full time mother with no support from my children's father, having my own business or three and sometimes struggling on 3-hours of sleep each night, so for me Christmas is a time that I can show these people that what they have done to me hasn't been forgotten and they are more than appreciated. I don't expect anything in return, except a smile and that they know that they mean a lot to me. And that's what Christmas is about... giving to people who deserve some gratitude.

But some people don't see it that way... and that's OK. We all have our own agendas of what Christmas means. But as life takes us to different places both physically and emotionally, we can't expect to live in the village style lifestyle that ensured that the family stuck together both physically and in the family ideals, because we do become more educated, we do start to question things that don't sit right with us, and we don't allow family or friends to bully us into their way of thinking when it's against our own ideals. It just takes a lot of courage to be able to break away and find your own place of happiness.

And if we take the religious stance on it, Jesus was born as a symbol of goodness, and if we haven't the ability to remove the influences in our lives that don't allow us to be good, kind, appreciative and grateful, then we are better off without those influences on the day that we are to celebrate life with joy.

So I hope all my loyal readers have a magical Christmas and take a moment to think about all the good they have that surrounds them, and have the courage to eliminate the forces that hurt their hearts.