I remember watching with my son a 1996 Sesame Street video that we owned called “Elmo Saves Christmas” featuring Maya Angelou

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In it, Elmo wished that every day was Christmas and the wish was granted. For the people and muppets involved, Christmas everyday felt like Groundhog Day did to Bill Murray’s character. It just became a drag for everyone.

By clicking the image above, you will hear Ms. Angelou tell us that with the moral of the story in the clip below:  “you cannot have Christmas everyday”. But she also states that we can have the spirit of Christmas all year around. You see, we can’t afford presents all year, but we can afford to give PRESENCE all year ’round and isn’t that what people want?

And what about Thanksgiving every day?

Just so, we can’t have turkey and stuffing every day but we can give thanks and stay in touch with family all year. So Happy Thanksgiving, everyday, to everyone.

They say people only need touch, affirmation, and eye contact to feel good. And a smile never hurts. So let’s give presence all year and give thanks for every moment, in every moment.

I just Googled “gratitude” and “telomeres” and there are a lot of people downloading the same info from the same source that I am for the book I’m writing for Hay House. SPOILER ALERT: gratitude is the key to happiness and your telomeres reflect this.

Let’s spend a little less time on the hamster wheel of official holidays and remembrances and give ourselves the right to remember anything anytime as well as be thankful and give presence for 365 1/4 days a year.

Postscript:

The specious argument that Christmas is special because it is rare reminds me of the death cult (aka almost everyone I know) that believes life is precious mainly because it is so short.

What if life was considered precious because it is a joy when lived well, with presence and thanks, regardless of its  duration? What if we lived every day like it was the only one, regardless of whether there were none or an infinite number of them left to live?