X-mas...In October?

'There is nothing new under the sun.' We've all heard that quote. Whenever I hear it, it is usually used to support something unoriginal. A prime example would be if one of my students wrote a paper on how much she loved her grandma, but it turned out that the student wasn't even writing about her own grandmother. Let's assume the student doesn't have a grandma, so she just wrote down what other people said in class about their own grandmothers. The assignment was just supposed to be about an influential person in the student's life, so why she would write about a fake grandma is quite beyond me...There are probably better examples, but while there is certainly many common experiences (like having grandmothers), none are completely the same. To take a real world example, you and I may both have grandmas, but I'm certain that mine are rather different than yours---unless you're my sister. Even if you are my sister, Amy, you'll have something different to say about our grandmothers than I will. Oh yes. (And if you are my sister, you'll also say, "Get to the point, Rah-rah...and stop being a dumb ass." Thanks, sis.)

People have been living on earth for quite some time, and will (well, hopefully) continue to do so. There's nothing new about life. It begins with birth and ends in death---with a few complications along the way. Some call for simplicity, for less-complicated lives. This can manifest as a 'stripping down' of a busy life into something less burdened, but more substantial in ways that are outside the 'normal' need for constant content, stimulation, or excess. Others seem caught in what they think are 'mediocre' lives---lives that to often feel like you're living out the expectations of others. Do this enough, and your own life can seem more and more like someone else's. Or you may feel that your life is much too ordinary because it is too yours, which is---too often---disappointing.

No matter who you are, there is always 'that person' you just might be. The problem is that once you become aware of this possibility, it's rather hard to ignore. It tends to make you look over your shoulder---discontent, anxious, even fearful---even when you may have a perfectly logical explanation and/or solution.

We live in a world of diminished possibilities. What might I mean by 'diminished'? Well, because of your unique birth, your choices are narrowed from the beginning. You don't ask to be born, or to choose your family or culture. In other words, the conditions are already set. You can only re-act. Since these conditions are beyond your control, the possibilities for what you might be become limited. Completely free will does not exist because you can never sit in a vacuum and freely decide from every possibility. Just as the story gives the setting and the situation and lets the characters discover their own unique existences, these limitations give shape to the form of your real-life transformations.

Like Ebeneezer Scrooge, we are confronted with the shades of: What Is, What Could Be and What Might Have Been. We too must weave the threads of our lives into some cohesive story that pushes us to the point where some sort of decision must be made or some action must be undertaken. The only place to choose or act is now. Will we discover that what was a dreary day like any other dreary day is actually Christmas morning? Perhaps. Or maybe the day that we have been dreading becomes one that we end up celebrating? These things may happen.

If they can happen for a guy like Scrooge, there may be hope for the rest of us.