The news lately has been pretty upsetting, infuriating, and depressing. (I’ll leave it to you to decide which bucket you put each story in.  However, it seems to me that they all fit neatly – and horribly – into all three.)  It’s tempting to bury yourself in cute animal videos, holiday shopping, and other distractions. I know I’ve been tempted.

However, while I was putting up my Christmas tree the other night, I happened to pop in the DVD of one of my favorite specials – ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Surprisingly, the animated tale of some mice breaking tradition and stirring on Christmas Eve inspired some deep thoughts.  In particular, this song proved quite relevant to my state of mind:

Frankly put, sometimes the world kind of sucks.  (I’ll leave the eloquence to this brilliant lady.)  It can seem kind of hopeless and that it will never change.

I can’t believe that.  I can’t let myself believe that.  One of my biggest pet peeves is when people let the world happen to them and claim they have no agency in the situation.  Obviously, sometimes terrible things happen that are out of our control.  However, we can’t just sit around waiting for a miracle to fix our problems, whether personal or societal.  After all, even a miracle needs a hand, right?

I mean, does your dog just sit in the kitchen hoping that food will magically fall to the floor? Okay, bad example.  He probably does. BUT… he probably also considers counter surfing when he sees an opportunity to make his own gastronomical miracle happen.  I prefer to keep an eye out for chances to give those needed miracles a boost, rather than waiting for them to just happen.  I aspire to be a counter surfer for change… or something like that.

I’ll return to our regular scheduled goofiness with my next post… just felt the need to get this one out there.  Can you think of any other lessons from holiday specials that we can take to heart during these times of trouble?  Share in the comments!