The most wonderful time of the year!

So anyone who knows me well, or has known me for a long time, will know how much I love Christmas. For me, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas day has been a significant day in my family for as long as I can remember. It’s a time when we all come together, put our differences aside and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a time when we all laugh together, we cry together, we eat and drink too much together, and we just be together. Many families celebrate in different ways, with different traditions, but the common factor is family spending time together. So what is it about the festive season that inspires so much joy for so many?

As children we were spoilt rotten by all our family members with an abundance of gifts. It was all about the presents, who got what and how come he got more than me?! It was about catching up with cousins, playing with our new toys, eating chocolate before breakfast, and trying to figure out how Santa got into the house when we didn’t have a chimney. He has magic dust by the way for those of you still wondering! Some of the greatest memories I have about Christmas past, are looking at all the houses decorated to the nines with Christmas lights. It was checking out everyone else’s Christmas trees and maybe, just maybe, there might be a gift with my name on it underneath. Christmas was also learning that I didn’t like fruit cake, but love Christmas pudding, go figure!! But as the years ticked by, and Christmas came around quicker each time, the true meaning came to light.

Christmas isn’t just about that one day in December, but it’s so much more. It’s no longer about how many presents we each get, although it’s a pretty magical feeling watching children unwrap theirs’s on Christmas morn. The true spirit of Christmas is fabulous. It’s about love, it’s about light, it’s about being grateful, it’s about kindness, it’s about happiness and it’s about creating memories. The spirit of Christmas lives within us all, although it’s harder for some people to find than others. As much as I still love looking at Christmas lights, putting up all the decorations, wrapping presents (yes, I love to wrap gifts!) and eating way too much, I’ve learnt to be thankful for everything I have. Christmas time makes me reflect on everything that’s happened throughout the year. Some of it’s not always good, but then life is never perfect.

So here’s a few things that I will be reflecting on this festive season……

Love. The love that I have for other people, family and friends. The love that people give me, and the love that has been taken away from me.

Joy. The joy that I’m blessed to have every time I see the gorgeous smiling faces of my two precious nieces.

Kindness. The kindness that has been shown towards me throughout this year during difficult times. And how I should be kinder to others around me.

Happiness. Learning to be happy with what I have, who I am and what I can give.

Wealth. Realising that being rich is not a financial thing, but about the wealth of all of the things above.

Friendship. Being grateful for the few amazing friends I have in my life, who get me no matter what and who will always have my back.

Laughter. It truly is the best medicine and we should all have more of it in our lives.

This festive season I’m bound to drink a few too many gins, eat more chocolate that I should and spend too much money. But what the hell!! You only live once so it’s worth doing well. I hope this Christmas you are able to experience some of the things I’ve mentioned above. I hope that you create memories to last a lifetime. I hope that you give love and feel love like you’re worthy of. I hope that you get Christmas carols stuck in your head. I hope that you dress on point and look fly as hell walking around your nans kitchen. I hope that your beverage of choice is on sale so you can stock up. And I hope that you discover the true spirit of Christmas, whatever that may be for you.

Love Always and Merry Christmas, Anastacia Rose xx