Friends of Christmas Past.

We’ve all seen the movie in one version or another. Or seen the play or read the book. A Christmas Carol, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Side Note: I am irritated with myself that I have been talking and thinking and doing so much Christmas-related stuff lately. I’m usually hard about my December 1 rule. What is happening to me!? Can I blame the kids?

Side Note 2: I played Ebenezer Scrooge in my Grade 7 Christmas Concert. My class wrote a play that involved Scrooge kidnapping Santa and the Christmas Elves going on a Mission Impossible to find Santa. They found him on the beach in Jamaica and he didn’t want to go home! I don’t remember exactly what happened at the end, but I think there was something about Scrooge’s ice cold heart melting and convincing Santa to do the right thing and go home to deliver toys.

These memories spark so many thoughts for me, different paths I could wander down to talk about today. Christmas Concerts (I will be a hot mess at Archer’s first one in a couple of weeks), Jamaica (take me away?), an ice cold heart melting (who doesn’t have one of those people in their life?).

Woman Celebrating Axe Throw Hitting Target

One of the most recent pictures of myself, in a very happy moment (I hit the target axe-throwing after 5 tries)

The real reason I started talking about A Christmas Carol in today’s blog, is because I was thinking about how different we all are, from year to year. Month to month, even. The people that were there for us, or we were there for, in the past, aren’t always still here.

I turned 35 years old this year. Does that mean I’m officially an adult this year? Who knows. I’ve done a lot of work on myself and gone through a lot of things to get to where I am today. Emotionally, I can confidently say that I am the healthiest I’ve ever been. This is something that was really solidified to me at Mom Camp: The Camp a couple of weeks ago. At camp, I also realized that while I am not the fittest that I have ever been, I am taking steps to be a healthy version of me every day. And I am very confident in my emotional health above everything else.

Black Lab Cross and Brunette Woman Smiling

Eddie and Anya

A friend recently (today haha) told me this:

Life is full of hard conversations. This is how we grow. We can’t grow if we aren’t watered.

It was the perfect advice in the moment and something that I wanted to share. Sure, it’s a bit corny, maybe a little bit of a cliché, but it’s true. We are ever-changing individuals and in order to be healthy, we need to accept and nurture those changes. If we choose not to, there’s no way to attain a healthy mindset.

I’ve had a few hard conversations as of late, and while the feelings I get having them aren’t the greatest, I know that I’m standing up for me and for what I believe. I’m doing my best to surround myself with the positivity, honesty and light that I wish for myself and my family. And while a lot of things (like passing relationships) are out of my control, standing up for what I believe is not.

Don’t let the ones that matter be the Friends of Christmas Past (friends or other). Tell them what they mean to you and listen when they tell you the same. But, above all, be true to yourself.

Every day before school I tell Archer three things:

Be honest, be kind and have fun.

And now, I’m telling you, too, in case you need the reminder.

In a world where you can be anything, be kind,

Anya

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