Too much too soon

Christmas lights. The joyous bulbs of color that twinkle and make us warm and fuzzy inside? Sighted. This morning on my way to work in downtown Provo. And yesterday morning, for that matter. What is this? Don't we get a chance to be thankful this November? What happened to days of gearing up for a huge family dinner and pie galore? Who decided that we need to skip straight from the 4th of July to Halloween and then straight on until Christmas? I mean, I'm all about a little forward thinking and planning things out and having them ready to happen when they need to...but people, this is ridiculous. Some radio stations are now playing non-stop Christmas tunes. I don't want to be a scrooge or snow on anyone's parade, but it all seems like too much too soon to me. Let's take a minute to actually digest the turkey and show a little thanks for our multitude of blessings before we chuck the cranberry sauce and break out our pinecones and holly.

Growing up, we had a rule that we weren't allowed to listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. I thought it was ridiculous and that it was my dad's way of stopping the madness that becomes children when the season of cheer gets going into full-swing, but he had a good thing going there. It gives you time to love the music and appreciate it for what it means, while sticking to the calendrical boundaries of Thanksgiving and New Year's--a definite beginning and end to 'Silver Bells' and 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' time. I even rebelled the first couple years I was not living at my parents' house. I started listening at the beginning of November, anticipating the holidays with childlike glee. By the time the middle of December rolled around, right when Christmas should be at its height, I would begin to skip tracks on my favorite Christmas albums and find myself searching for something else to satiate the appetite of the music monster I had become. And by January 1, I wanted to break every Christmas CD ever invented. Maybe this was evidence of something deeper in my life at the time than a mere overload of holiday cheer...but my hypothesis remains this: too much of a good thing is not better. Letting yourself eat as much ice cream as you can is fun in theory, but in actual execution, it gets messy, not to mention, you risk creating in yourself an aversion for something quite delightful if consumed in moderation.

Ok, off my soapbox about people beginning Christmas too early. I'll give you a little credit for trying to make people smile a little more, for trying to get into the spirit of the season. I really do love Christmas :) But shouldn't Thanksgiving get its chance to shine in holiday glory? That's what I'm really trying to say. So in two weeks as you're waking up to a world where holiday sales numbers are being racked up at what seems to be millions of dollars by the second, take a second to reflect on how grateful you are for things in your life. Then put in your favorite Christmas album. I know I will.