The Christmas Reminder You Need To Hear
The Joy Rally Podcast: Episode 13 – The Christmas Reminder You Need To Hear
ABBY: [JOKE-SINGING] JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME! I know you guys are here to hear me sing Christmas carols! I’m just kidding. I’m not gonna put you through that today. Although, that’s not my real singing voice. I just want to make sure that you know that was my jokey singing voice, and my real one is a little bit better than that.
So it is Christmas week, y’all! So, so crazy. I cannot believe that we are here, and what a year it’s been, right? There have been so many ups and downs this year, so much crazy stuff going on in our world between the pandemic, between political stuff, between stuff that’s happening overseas. I mean, even with the Kardashians. Think about all the Kardashians have been through this year.
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Kim and Kanye, and Khloe and Tristian, not to mention Travis Barker with Kourtney? Like, who would have ever thought! It’s been a big year for the Kardashians. Anyway, that’s not what we’re here to talk about. I just wanted to give you guys a short, sweet, little Christmas reminder.
A short Christmas reminder
First of all, I want you guys to know I’m so grateful to all 17 of you who have listened to The Joy Rally Podcast this year. Literally, you are the reason that I keep recording these podcast episodes in my closet. I’m talking to all 17 of you. I love you so much. I am so grateful for you. Maybe by this time next year, we’ll be at 27 (would be great), or 37. I do want to remind you our ultimate goal is to interview Justin Bieber on this podcast. So we are introducing podcast interviews next year in 2022. He will not be one of the first, but I am believing that he is coming. Anyway, I want to say that I am thankful for you guys.
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Seriously, you have so many other podcasts that you can listen to while you’re driving your kids in your car, while you’re on your long road trips, while you’re working at your desk, whatever. And so, I’m so grateful that you choose to keep on tuning in to this one. It’s really been a lot of fun to just be able to kind of speak my mind but also get feedback from you guys on what you’d like to hear more about as well, too. So I’m grateful for you.
This Christmas thought I have today is I know that there’s a lot of pressure that comes around Christmas, whether we want to admit it or not. There’s a lot of pressure to do Christmas in a really big way. You have pressure to either host Christmas parties or be invited to the most Christmas parties. There’s the pressure to have the most decorated house with all the beautiful lights in the neighborhood or to have the better Christmas tree. Beyond that, if you’re a parent, there’s that pressure to, like, get your kids everything they want, to get them all the best gifts.
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If you’re married or you’re dating someone, there’s that pressure to get your significant other that perfect gift that shows them how much you love them. There’s that pressure to take care of your parents at Christmastime if you have parents who are older. We’ve kind of created this thing around Christmas where it’s centered around so much pressure.
“Beyond that, the message of Christmas is to give out of the overflow, the abundance of our blessings in everything that we have received.”
Take the pressure off
Today, my Christmas thought and my Christmas message for you guys is to take the pressure off. Let it go. Take a deep breath and take the pressure off. Take a deep breath [INHALE, EXHALE]. What is Christmas about? Christmas is centered around the fact that God sent his son Jesus down to earth as a baby in a manger to bring us hope, to bring us joy, to give us a second chance. He brought the light of the world down to earth to be walking among us, to be a man, to take away our sins. That’s the message of Christmas.
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If you don’t believe in that message of Christmas, suit yourself. You’re missing out. Beyond that, the message of Christmas is to give out of the overflow, the abundance of our blessings in everything that we have received. If you received only a little bit this year, you can still give out of what you have. If you got a lot this year, you can give out of what you have. But really, it’s about the joy of giving. It’s about whatever we can do to bring happiness to other people and to share, kind of, out of what we’ve been blessed with.
If you don’t have a lot of money, that means you have to give your time. If you don’t have a lot of time, give your money in whatever ways that you can. That can look like something really, really simple. Maybe your kid doesn’t need the $200 Hoverboard or whatever. Maybe your kid just needs you to spend one entire day where you pay attention to them, you do things that they like to do, you spend time with them.
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Maybe your friend has had a hard year, and you don’t have money to get her the spa day that you want, but maybe you could volunteer to come over and babysit her kids so she can go sit at a coffee shop by herself. This is what Christmas is about, guys. It’s not about spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a credit card, okay? Christmas is about giving back out of what we have, giving out of our blessings, giving whatever we have to bring hope and joy to other people.
That’s all I really want to say today. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the pressure and in the hubbub, and maybe this message is too late because it’s already Christmas week, but it’s not too late to turn around and live the other way. So this Christmas, let’s not ask ourselves, “Did I get enough? Did I buy enough? Did I do enough?” Let’s ask ourselves, “Have I don’t everything that I can to share the overflow of what I’ve been blessed with? Have I don’t everything I can to bring hope and joy and show my love and appreciation to the people in my life?”
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That’s really what it’s about.
“Christmas is about giving back out of what we have, giving out of our blessings, giving whatever we have to bring hope and to bring joy to other people.”
Anyway, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas! I hope that you guys have an amazing and restful week and super memorable, safe, healthy holidays, and we will be back for New Year’s Eve week next week. I will talk to you guys then. Until then, I hope you have a fantastic holiday, and I will see you soon. Merry Christmas!