Where are you going for Christmas?

Where will your path take you over the Christmas Holiday?

It seems when we travel places we are on a mission to get to where we are going as fast as possible. Whether by train, plane or automobile, the name of the game is expediency. We want to get together around holidays as fast as possible so we can talk about where we have been, what we have been doing and the classic question to ask others, “how are you doing” or better yet, “how yah doin”. We talk about trips we have been on and places we have seen. When all other topics are exhausted some people are reduced to talking about others, but I won’t regress. The point is we rarely talk about the journey unless something bad happened; we had a flat tire, the plane was delayed, it rained or snowed. It seems there is a comfort in just being together and being in old familiar places, and we are a society of comfort seekers.

It has been six months since I have journeyed “home” to see my immediate family so I am looking forward to it. My parents recently journeyed to New Mexico so I am looking forward to hearing about their trip. I am sure we will look at pictures of places they visited and excursions they took. But what if I threw a curve ball and asked the question, “What did you learn while on that trip that could help you improve yourself or others?” Another question could be, “what did you learn that you can teach me so I can improve myself?”

All successful people who are full-filled know that it is not the things they acquire, the places they go, or freedoms they enjoy that full-fills them, those things are merely temporary comforts. For those who have started down the path of success, which starts with setting goals and self improvement, we quickly realize that the process of moving down the path becomes self-full-filling. It is like a car that you never have to fill with gas as long as you drive it daily. And when you don’t drive it the gas evaporates until you do. Thus, not driving the car of self improvement down the path for long period of time will empty your tank. Have YOU ever been there, I sure have, too many times.

Your journey WILL take you down some difficult paths. The alternative is to stop on the path so everything starts to become familiar and comfortable, but watch out, you may get run over. My prayer this holiday season is that we are lights of positive hope and joy in a society that has been told “it sure is bad”, “times sure are tough”. Give me a break, go to a third world country where they worry about what they will eat or drink not because they don’t have money to buy it, there is no food to buy. May Joy and Peace fill your holiday season and enjoy your journey down the path.