Those people who know me know that I am not a religious person. I'm not even especially a spiritual person. But even with that being said, I'm not against religion and spirituality in their entireties. I think being spiritual is great for most people. It gives them something to believe in and something to hold on to both in good time and (hopefully) bad times.

Christmas was originally the celebration of the birth of Christ, hence the name of the holiday/celebration. Over the years (decades, centuries, millenia, whatever) people have turned the time of the birth of Christ into a time of selfishness and stress instead of being thankful for the teachings and sacrifices of Christ.

People stress over what presents to buy for the people around them. They have to buy just the right thing so that the person receiving their present doesn't think poorly of them. They stress over "what if they get me a better present than I get them?" They stress over getting to the right store at 3 o'clock in the morning the day after Thanksgiving so they can get the best deal of the season. Road rage and stress skyrocket. People yell and scream and swear at the drivers around them to "get out of the way!" and "move over!"

If you're going to celebrate Christmas, do it for the right reasons; Don't do it for the presents and the stress. Do it for the happy times you get to spend with friends and family. Do it to be thankful for the things you have and the people you have around you. If you're a religious person, do it for the sacrifices that Jesus made for you and everyone else who has accepted his teachings.

The commercialism and stress of from the third Friday in November to the 25th of December are unnecessary and should be avoided. Why not take the time and effort that you've used stressing out to do something to improve your life or someone else's?

I can't wait until January 1st of 2010. Most people will have gotten out of the "Christmas Spirit" and will have gone back to their "normal" selves by then and the world can move forward in a semi-functional manner again for a few more months. Until some other holiday comes along and causes a mass hysteria...