6 — Sunday, December 25, 1994 ~ North Shore News

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‘TO avoid a" ‘eynical Christmas,
'you ‘ask? Not an’ ‘easy task, readers, in
this age of hysteria and disaffection.

Inthe words. of , that . internationally.

2 renowned cynic Ambrose Bierce, Christmas is

:. a day set apart and consecrated to gluttony,
; drunkenness, maudlin scntiment, gift-taking,

public ‘dullness and domestic behavior.”
“Fellow world-class. cynics would surely

take Mr. Bierce’s soured view to heart.

For. there is much to denigrate about the

: wave - of. financial. and emotional energy
: expended at this time of-year.
,And too.many expectations are heaped

pon the shoulders of one day for it to live up,

to them all. ; oe

But there remains much to cherish about
_. Christmas, most of. which resides in its simple
‘ © pleasures.
Some suggested steps, then, te to rekindle the

 Boug Foot ”
: Comptroller «
985-2131 (193) ©

: Poter Speck |
“Publisher mo
SOez131 (908)

Chris Johnson
Operations Manager
985-21 31 (144 )-

AROUND 11 pam. every
Dec. 25 the same thought
always hits me — what was
all the fuss really about?

t

, Be honest. Has the sume
thought never hit YOU, as you pre-
pare fora sound night's sleep
before battling with the Boxing
Day sales?

Or maybe you're ashamed to
admit that Christmas — which cost
you a bundle — could have been
anything less than a roaring suc-
CURS, 7 ;

Problem denial, the shrinks call
it.

“What problem?" you ask indig-
nantly. “Wright's middle name
must be Scrooge.” Sorry to disap- .
point you. [happen tothink
Christm a simply wonderful
idea. But it's not the first wonder-
ful idea to develop a problem that
needs fixing.

The symptoms of the problem
are known to a lot of people. Not
least to the stores —~ saved from
bankruptcy only by the four or five
Christmas weeks that bring 30% to
40% of their total annual sales.

They are known even better to

- the Sally Ann’s turkey dinner -

servers. To Food Bank workers.
And to Christmas Bureau volun-
teers. But the problem is much

-wider than handouts to the needy. .”

Its many other forms are all too -
familiar to the staffs of hospital.
emergency wards — coping every
Christmas Day with victims of
drank driving, over-indulgerice,
anxiety stress, blood pressure and

heart trouble, and dangerous

Shun the commercial and ‘embrace the

‘spiritual aspects of the ¢ season. .

' Give more than you receive.

“Think of what you ‘have instead of what -

you don’t have. » ie

- Embrace the here; and now; discard’ the
baggage of the past and dispel worries of the.

future.

Approach festive days with a child’ s enthu- .

siasm and wonder.

Be confident that, with’ all the horrors,
fears and evils :visited upon this. earth. by |
mankind, there is goodness at the heart of life
and goodness i in every human heart.

With this in mind, consider the words of

another expert on this most special of days: A :
Merry .Christmas: to all and to alla good

night.

Managing Editor :
985-2131 (116)

“Timothy Renshaw ,

Linda Stewart

Sales & Marketing Director

980.0511 (319)

depression resulting from joneli-
ness. fos

And to learn about its starkest’
form, talk to the phone operators at
.the Crisis Intervention and Suicide -
Prevention Centre, to whom calls .
for help soar by 20% every
Christmas. Not, much ho-ho-ho
there. «

lem at a season expected to be giv-
ing and goodwiil all round? Quite.
simply, it comes from EXPECT-
ING outstripping giving — with ~
goodwill often ending up a poor
third. uy
On the one hand, giving often
falls short of even the very modest
expectations of the poor. On the

other, for the kid given a Nintendo
“when he wanted a Super Nintendo

-— or the girlfriend craving dia-

Poter Kvarnsirom
Display Manager’ < -
A $80-0511 {103) .

So what IS this Christmas prob- .

HITHER AND YON.

monds who gets costume jewelry -
instead — Christmas can be a bit
ter letdown./These are crude mater-
ial examples. But lots of non-mate-
rial expectations also bite the dust.’.
Especially the crazy notion that
Christmas will make everyone 'and -
everything wonderful and perfect,’
“ No way, of course..The danger.
is that the stresses of the buildup
weeks will make them even LES

,wonderful and perfect than on the
~ other 360-odd days of the year. *

Result: letdown again. Plus guilt.
The solution? First, expect «
NOTHING — you’ "tl never be dis-
appointed and you'll likely have
some happy surprises..Second, give

".. generously to the needy. You never

know if, ene day, you tov’
Third, give most generously

‘all of YOURSELF — in time, help

and companionship. That gift will:

_ last long after the material. baubles:
i

that nearly bankrupt you end u
the recycling bin. |:
- Above all, RELAX: Christm

‘is not'a cordon bleu or a homes

beautiful contest, or any other. pe
fection exercise. And the surest

“way to ruin it is by trying to fo

it into being any, such thing.
-You’ve no hope of succeeding,
So’‘if you read this in time, why not

. just settle for two or three expecta

tion-less, happy-go-lucky days —

and the many magic moments the’

can bring all on theit own?

“WRIGHT OR WRONG: M y: the

2,000-year-old magic of that very:
first Christmas — the simplest ever :-
— light this day for you and yours.

, Valerte Stephenson" Trixi Agrios |:
Classified Manager. | *'

986-6222 (202) ~

a Promotions Manager 3
985-2134 (137) |”.

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Newsroom Fax.

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