The Little Things

With those of you who know me, you will understand the whole randomness of this thought process as you read. For those of you who do not know me, this is how I think.

I ride and train barrel horses for a living. Love it. Although my days are sociably lonesome from any human contact, I am surrounded by what I find to be the most amazing animals. Horses. Throughout the day, as I ride and work, my thoughts are many and random.

One that has really kind of bugged me recently are people around Christmas time. I am certainly not a grinch, but read on and hear me out.

As we all know from the songs, greeting cards and shopping – \”It is the most wonderful time of the year.\” Is it? Really?

I recently read on a Black Friday massacre, people beating each other in the stores and in the parking lots, over deals on items; you go to town, and everybody is in hurry-up mode. Nowhere for parking, people absolutely stressed about having extra money to shop and spoil their loved ones, and you rarely hear \”excuse me\” if someone wants past you. Whatever happened to the true meaning of Christmas? And when did it become that a simple card with meaningful words was not enough?  I wonder if you randomly asked children of today what Christmas is all about, would they know?

To me, of course it is the Birth of Christ, and the get-togethers with family and friends. Today\’s society has become so focused on materialistic items, and the thought pattern has become that the only way to show love is to buy people more and more and more. So my main thought for all of the rambling is: Do materialistic gifts fill your heart forever? Can you look back in 50 years and remember how gifts made you feel, or would you even care, or remember that gift anymore after that long? I understand some gifts are very meaningful, and yes, I believe there is room for that. But ultimately, the older I get, the more people I meet, I am now realizing that quality time and good memories you spend making with those you love and care about are the ones that fill your heart forever. It is the kind words, the meaningful hugs, and the good old cheek pinch from Grandma no matter how old you are.

As I work with the horses daily, and spend hours watching them, I appreciate all that they teach me, every day. The gratitude they show over just getting a pat or a good brushing; the excitement they have and how they nicker when they see you coming to their pen; the craziness and playfulness they have when you turn them loose to run in the arena; or, even just the enjoyment of finding a little green blade of grass through the snow. The little things.

So, with what I am learning from the horses on a daily basis, it urges me to ask these questions: What if we all just had a little more gratitude for everything we already have in our lives? What if we all just treated each other a little bit better? What if we went out of our way for a stranger and had manners like \”excuse me, please and thank-you,\” or helped an older person with their groceries to their car? When is enough, enough?

I think there would be a lot more happiness throughout the world if we could all impose this sort of change, and not just around Christmas. Always. I hope this blog has reached those that need it and it is nothing personal to anybody. Take notice – where can you help out and make someone\’s day good? It\’s the little things.