When I was younger, Christmas was the best time of the year. I always enjoyed receiving new gifts and how the holiday season made me feel. I loved the holiday traditions of making gingerbread houses with my family and receiving Christmas cookies from my aunt to set out for Santa. I loved waking up in the morning just to look around the house until I found where my elf on the shelf was hiding. I loved how Santa would come every year and give me exactly what I wanted.
As I grew older, these Christmas traditions changed for me. The cookies and the gingerbread houses continued to be made, but when I discovered that Santa Claus was not real, it changed for me. There was something missing with the holiday season; it just didn’t feel as magical anymore. The time before Christmas went faster and faster, and eventually it was over, and it kinda just felt like it didn’t happen at all.
Continuing into prior years, I longed for those same magical feelings that I once had but could not find them. I tried everything, like going to see Christmas lights with my friends, making gingerbread houses, and even moving the elf on the shelf around the house by myself one year, but still I couldn’t find the joy I once felt. I still loved receiving the presents and spending time with my family, but I knew something was missing.
In this search for holiday cheer, I discovered my love for gift giving. I learned that I am very good at giving people gifts, and I love the feeling I get when I give someone a gift and genuinely enjoy it. It gives that same holiday cheer that I had when I was younger and Santa would bring me presents on Christmas night. Though I still don’t find the same cheer that I once did, I know that is just what it is like to get older. Now I find joy in the Christmas season by planning what I want to get for people that I care about, seeing the beautiful Christmas displays through the city, and spending time with my friends and family.
I am aware that the thinning of the Christmas spirit will continue to grow as I continue to get older, but I do hope that my love for gift giving can carry me through it. I am so excited to one day have kids and a wife and get to use this joy I receive from gift giving to give them their own sense of Christmas spirit.