As the end of the
semester winds down, I find myself frantically struggling to get projects in on
time, finish homework assignments, and study for finals in both high school and
college classes that I have been studying for the past few months. This amount
of stress, as is typical, brings on certain mood swings and without doubt a
touch of sass and short tempers. While I attempt to rein most of my emotions
in, I find myself letting slip a snide comment here or a sarcastic reply there.
This just makes me wonder, why is finals week RIGHT before Christmas season?
Maybe it’s to test our true character and bring out our true selves in ways
that otherwise would remain hidden.
Just recently, my family
went and picked out the PERFECT Christmas tree. This tree was exactly six feet
tall and was just destined to stand in our living room for the holiday season.
Now, the art of Christmas tree shopping is something my family has kind of
perfected over the years. We pull up at the Christmas Tree farm, hop out, divide
and conquer. All five of us, my dad, my mom, Jacki, Shai, and I, spreading throughout
the area, weaving between trees big and small, full and thin. It takes less
than 10 minutes before all of us are shouting that we have found the perfect
tree. Which then turns into a tree parade as we all exhibit our chosen tree to
the others until we have a general consensus of who picked the perfect tree.
Once the tree is bought, it is instantly installed in our house and Christmas
proceeds to spread its cheer. All. Over. It.
By “cheer” I mean an assortment of
ornaments. Ranging from hand-made ornaments from kindergarten, to hallowed
ornaments from my parents past, to the epic moving ornaments that are plugged
into the lights. Oh, and you can’t forget the lights of varying colors and
brightness. And to top it all off, a star at the very top. Decorating the tree
has always been a family affair (although getting it to stand by itself always
has dad in a particular “festive” mood…). Even with everyone’s busy schedules, varying
amounts of homework and responsibilities, never-ending house chores, and
livestock that need to be cared for, the Zenger household always has a block of
time for the annual Family Tree Decorating.
With the festive cheer
increasing by the second, and Christmas creeping closer every day, Let us not
forget who we are and where we come from. Schedule a family get-togetherinstead of business trips. Schedule a vacation instead of a meeting. Make cookies instead of plans. Buy gifts for others instead of nonsense items for yourself.
Above all, care for
others as much as you care for yourself.
Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays!
Scuyler Zenger
NCD President
