I would like to begin this article by taking the time to wish everyone happy holidays. I hope that this season allows you to find a way to surround yourself with love, kindness, compassion, generosity, and faithfulness, if for only a moment. This is a stressful time for many and one of the greatest stresses is in trying to preserve traditions and figuring out a way to get your families together.
I am finding this to be the case as my young family has grown into their own lives and they all have their own significant others and they need to share the holidays with other families as well. As our families all grow into their own or move further away it becomes increasingly more difficult to hold to the old family traditions. When some of those traditions get left behind, we can sometimes feel as if the family glue has been weakened.
But, allow me to re-introduce you to the oldest family Christmas tradition of all. This is a tradition that has gone back to the very beginnings of your own family. It is a tradition that has been present every single holiday since long before anyone can remember and will continue to be a part of every single holiday. I’m talking about the tradition of creating new traditions. As our loved ones create their own young families, they will create their own traditions. Those traditions will be steeply influenced by the traditions they grew up with and you as well. Remember that there is no such thing as loss; its only change.
As your family dynamic changes and develops into the beautiful thing that you helped create, remember that those new traditions are an important part of the sequence. And as for those old traditions…they aren’t ever lost. They will always be remembered in what the foundation was that created those traditions in the first place: love, kindness, compassion, generosity, and faithfulness.
From our family to yours, Merry Christmas.
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