I believe in Santa Claus. I always have, I always will.
You can debate that he doesn’t exist until you are blue in the face like a Smurf, I won’t believe you.
I believe in endless vistas of imagination. I live there.
I believe in the magic that lives in hearts of children. It lives within me too.
I live in a world of Wonder.
I often think of six impossible things before breakfast. That merry Elf, being an enigma himself, is an inspiration to me.
Here’s a few that Santa Claus does:
Knows if everyone has been naughty or nice.
Flies through the air on a giant sleigh, heavily laden with toys and other gifts.
His aforementioned sleigh is powered by eight reindeer, nine in inclement weather when a light is needed.
Goes up and down chimneys, seemingly propelled by magic.
Somehow he transports himself and any oversized gifts down all those chimneys without getting stuck.
Delivers gifts all over the world on one night of the year.
Santa accomplishes things that no one else in the world can do. His joyful Ho-Ho-Hos create energy bubbles of laughter throughout the world. That jolly dude is the personification of magic and wonder. He is the Spirit of Christmas.
I started writing this post exactly 4 months ago today. At that time, I was working at a job that was wreaking havoc on my health. It’s rather curious that I would return to this post on the exact same day (on the 23rd of all days – more about that another time). It’s also rather curious that my mind would be concerned with being present. My present (yes, pun intended) circumstances lend a lot to what is happening.
I will say this now and probably will say it again and again:
There are no accidents,
only lack of awareness of what is happening.
Here is what I wrote on June 23, 2017:
The word for today is present. Every single day, not just this one, that is, if we are truly present.
I’m in a very difficult situation. I work at a back-breaking job and I’m reaching my personal breaking point as Humpty Dumpty in regards to my joints.
I have arthritis in my fingers, wrists, neck, back, hips and now possibly in the knee. Pain is par for the course.
I just came back from the doctor. I wanted relief. He said I’ll just have to live with it.
I refuse to accept pain as a way of life.
Today, October 23, 2017, I am experiencing severe pain in my joints throughout my body. There is a low-pressure front and it is causing swelling. On days like today, the stiffness makes me move extremely slow like an Ent.
I’m not complaining about this. I am trying to illustrate what it feels like to have widespread arthritis with a bit of humor. I’ve been doing a mental exercise to alleviate the pain by just observing it. In time I hope to be in a pain-free life, but that is not today.
This morning when I woke up an old poem I wrote years ago came to my head:
After we see the beauty of our own pain then we begin
The image of a painting I did that was based on that poem also flashed through my mind. Here it is:
“Beauty of Pain” by Ginny Gaura
I created this mixed-media piece about 15 years ago when the arthritis was localized to my lower back. I didn’t create this painting because of physical pain. I was experiencing emotional pain back then.
But pain is pain whether it is emotional or physical. It is not pleasant.
Back in the early 2000s my fingers were just beginning to develop osteophytes, bone spurs that disfigure my joints. Back then, I didn’t have pain in my hands, I just had a few swollen joints. Now the hand pain is sometimes so severe that daily activities such as typing can cause pain. Also, my fingers are crooked on my right, which is the dominant hand.
I am only 55. My mom developed bone spurs in her hands later in life. When she passed at 77, her joints were not as disfigured as mine are now.
I have had back issues since I was a teenager and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the spine with bone spurs in my thirties, so the illness has had a long time to progress.
Someone in the public eye claimed that his bone spurs got better. At least from my experience, bone spurs only get worse with time.
Sometimes there is a gift within the pain if we allow ourselves to see it. For me, it is awareness. I am aware of what is hurting but I am not letting it overpower my life. I am listening to my body, moving it slowly and treating it with care. What is happening is allowing me to open more fully in awareness, to see things in a more intense light, to be more present in the moment.
We all have gifts that set us apart from others. Sometimes a gift is obvious, like someone who can fly through the air and slam-dunk a basketball. A certain Chicago Bulls player whose jersey was number 23 comes to mind.
Some people are masters of taking food ingredients and preparing meals that make our taste buds happy.
Some people are compassionate healers, nurturing others back to health.
Some people are great listeners who can help us through situations and find solutions we never thought of.
Some people are dexterous with their hands and able to take materials to make furniture and buildings.
Some people uplift others by playing musical instruments or singing.
Some people excel at cleaning, organizing, assembling, spelling or solving complex mathematical equations.
Some people think of preposterous ideas that change how we think.
Some people invent new technology to make everyone’s life easier.
Some people play characters that we can identify with.
Some people create art that speaks to our soul.
Some people are wonderful at making others feel better with just a smile.
We all have at least one special talent that is unique to us.
No one gift is more important than another because when all gifts are shared, they create a wonderful world.
Because each of us is a different shape and size than the next person, so too our gifts come in different shapes and sizes.
So many of us go through our work days in drudgery just to pay the bills.
Some of us don’t appreciate what we have or use our gifts at all. Some of us don’t even realize that we have them by never taking the time to try something new.
Imagine wrapping a present and never giving it to anyone. That’s what it is like to not appreciate your gift. It stays in the box, unopened.
When I was a kid, we called our unique talents God-given gifts. They are gifts of the spirit and our souls want us to use them.
What if we all shared our gift with at least one other person each day? It would make us happier and that in turn could create a happier world.
