They Can't Steal Your Christmas Spirit

The Grinch may have stole Christmas, but he couldn't steal their Christmas spirit. What a powerful message that is. There will be plenty of Grinches over the course of your lifetime. But the good news, is that they can't take your spirit. They may try and break it. But the better news? Only you get to decide if they will.

I have met people from all walks of life who have gone though the most unbearable life circumstances, but you would never know it. And why is that? Because a joyful spirit speaks of joyful things. They do not concentrate on the things that have gone wrong. Nor do they focus on what they don't have. They focus on gratitude. And I have yet to meet anyone who can't find at least one thing to be thankful for.?

In almost 4 decades of providing mental health services, I believe I have pretty much seen it all. I've held the dying. Prayed with the hopeless. Sat with the abused. Listen to those living in chronic pain. It's not always easy. But in the right environment, with the right support, many of those come around to gratitude. Be the person that offers hope. Be the person that is hopeful.

I like to use the analogy of survival. You can go to any sporting goods store and buy a survival kit. A survival kit will do just that...help you survive. My wife and I used to be avid hikers. We were very well prepared, often blazing a trail where no one {or very few} have been before. If anything were to have gone wrong, it would have been up to us, to save ourselves. What does all this have to do with spirit??

In survival situations there is a saying, "Embrace the suck". Because survival does suck. Take someone stranded in a car during a snow storm. Once they are our of gas, no more heat and game over. So they get out and try and walk to help. Take that same scenario, and now throw in a survival pack. You may be cold, but you'll have a mylar solar blanket or two, to keep you from freezing. You may be hungry, but you will have some food to help sustain you. You may get wet. But you won't be drenched, because survival packs usually come with a tarp. You may get lost at night. But you will be able to light a fire. Same goes for hydration and the ability to signal for help. The point? It may suck, but all is not lost.?

I go back to my nearly 4 decades in the helping profession. You may be dying. But you're in a bed with medication. You may have gone through some trauma. But you're in a support group now. You may have been wrongly incarcerated. But you have the right to an appeal. Please believe me that I am not minimizing anyone's experience. All I am saying is why do some people focus, while others fold? Spirit. You cannot break the one who has a grateful spirit. They too will have bad days. But something?resides deep within them. And that is a spirit that controls the narrative.?

At the end of the day, my hope is that we all learn to embrace the suck. Because it is coming. In one way or another. Some day it will show up at our door. That mother fucker has come to my door far too many times. But you would never know it. Why? Because the Grinch can have my Christmas. But he has no idea how to get to my Christmas spirit. I'll sing in the rain. I'll sing in pain. I'll sing during a fight. I'll sing late at night. It's a metaphor. But I'll sing my loudest when life gets the toughest. I simply will drown out the negative self chatter that comes with pain.

It make take some time, but if you look hard enough, there is something to be thankful for. Be like the Whos living in Whoville. Even the last Who crumb was stolen. Yet in the morning, they gathered in the center of town and began to sing. So now I ask you. Why aren't you singing??