The Jar of Happiness: Count Your Blessings This Christmas

There’s something special about Christmas, something warm and loving, something giving and forgiving, that leaves no heart untouched by its beauty. To me, Christmas is not just a festival, but a spirit that transcends all religions and nations, a blessing, a hope of peace and joy, and I absolutely love it.

I am not a Christian, but I don’t remember a time when we have not had a decorated tree and gifts around it. Is there a child in the world who doesn’t wait for Santa tiptoeing into their house at night with gifts? I think not. The sounds of Jingle bells and Rudolph are something I still wait for all year.

In this season of goodwill and cheer, I have made it my own little tradition to count the blessings that God sent to me, however big or small, and remember to say a grateful thanks for all that I have, and all that is still to come. It is so easy for us to overlook these in the madness and chaos of life, but these tiny moments of joy make life worth living.

This is so simple to do. Find a nice box or a jar and put it on a table where you can’t fail to see it several times a day. Put a tiny notepad and a pen next to it. Remember to write out your most beautiful moments of each day on a sheet from the notepad and put it in the jar before bedtime. Open the jar at the end of the year on Christmas and put up all those little blessings on your tree. You would be happily surprised to see how many blessings you had during the year!

Of course, you can take a sneak peek at some of the notes on days when you need a little extra smile to help you over a rough patch. I always do. A year is often too long to wait!

This Christmas, I also want to share with you a poem that I wrote for my best friend. It is a blessing of hope for each one of you who have touched my life and made it beautiful. The poem is called “Magic and the Mistletoe” and you can watch it on YouTube, which is my newest baby, as those who have joined my newsletter already know. I hope you will enjoy this, and the other poems on my channel.

No Christmas is complete without a song, and here is one of my favourites from Enya, a lesser known song but very beautiful. The lyrics are simply amazing!

Christmas bells ring out their chimes
I hear them echo through the miles
And moonlight shines upon the road
And trembles on the fallen snow

I look into the midnight blue
So many stars I never knew
If you don’t come, what will I do?
Who shall I tell my secrets to?

Wishing all of you Merry Christmas and a blessed time ahead.