I guess I don't have much to say this issue; others have something to quote you in behalf of my placidity. Nonetheless, just few speckles of my inner thoughts this Christmas season will do for me, I guess.Foremost, I tagged this cover write-up as STOP, LOOK and LISTEN THIS CHRISTMAS as though an orange color in a traffic light, saying slow down congestion ahead! But here, there’s no congestion ahead halting you down, rather we might be missing a lot of things this Christmas. Real surprises and happiness are not ahead, but are along the way. So get loose off your gas down and paddle your canoe slowly.
Life is short and time is fleeting – together with them are precious events in our lives we might have missed.
Stop, look and listen. It rings a bell. I suspect you’re trying to recap how your little limbs limber to the tune of this nursery rhyme at preschool. “Peep, peep the small jeep is running down the street…” something that goes like that. This is the tune we might have grown up with, but it has something more to tell us this season.
Now, how does this makes sense and jingles with my Christmas afterthoughts?Why STOP?
Obviously, life now is fast paced! You might not actually notice a thing if you’re in the middle of the road, unless you notice your feet pressing hard against your gas pedal. This is much evident in highly advanced countries, such as Japan where every 3 months most people changes their cell phone units with more sophisticated ones. Well, that’s grossly 3 years here in the Philippines before a unit gets loose.
I’ve been steering the wheel of this advertising magazine for more than a year now and it has been a hell of a ride catching up with all its materials (advertising revenues, editorials, schedules, events, productions etc…) for a release and to serve the needs of our beloved advertisers. At large, I was thinking and doing the necessary just to get ahead of things and the demands of my job, perhaps to impress, show that I’m doing my job or just sizing up myself with it. Then at the end of the day I went home, shrug my shoulders, slumber, shake myself off the bed and realized I’m getting ahead of myself and sanity. It doesn’t pay that much – at least that’s what my paycheck hints me.
Slow down. There is more to life rather than just getting too serious with life or your job – else you won’t get out alive and a balding head to deal with.
LOOK. It would be hard to notice something worth noticing along the road if you’re running fast. So, again you really have to slow down. There is more in this world than just meets your work or whatever that gives you more excuses. It is your family, loved ones and yourself that you have to look straight with love this Christmas. More than anything else, it is your presence among them that matters most.
Believe me, material compensation in behalf of your presence doesn’t get even with your absence. Christmas is getting colder as it gets near and it would even be ‘freezing cold’ without you. Somebody out there in the cold might badly in need of your warm embrace.
One of the most disregarded elements of human communication is listening. Just like the air we breathe, listening is the lifeblood of human communications. So why LISTEN. You won’t STOP and you won’t LOOK if you’re not interested to LISTEN. This Christmas it’s not about how loud your voice in heralding your Christmas greetings or how loud your fireworks popping out of you backyard, but it is how much you mean yourself to them with both ears willing to listen.There are lots of stories to tell this Christmas. Try listening to what your love ones have to say and you’ll just know that listening is more pleasurable than opening your mouth most of the time. Know that when you listen, not just hear but assimilating every words, you actually connects to the deepest realm of a man’s value and vulnerability. Know that when you listen there would be the intertwining of one soul in two bodies. At best, you might as well understand yourself by just listening to them – that is the power of it – and the greatest gift this Christmas.
Further ahead, I would like to thank Georges Carlin, a celebrated writer, for this worth noting brainchild.
“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, (or just never mind).
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
☺☺☺
