The other day at work, I opened a can of Roundy's brand pinto beans for lunch. Hey, times are tight.
I removed the lid, only to find that there were no beans, but creamed corn instead. While I am not opposed to creamed corn, it wasn't at all what I was expecting...
In years past, the bounty of gifts passing beneath my tree on Christmas Eve could have been construed as a gluttonous feast. It was not unusual for there to be 7, 8, or more gifts under there for every person in attendance. My, how times have changed. My people, as I'm sure most of your people, have been greatly affected by the continued downturn in our country's economy. For the second year in a row, we have a strict "No Gifts" policy enforced. Yet this Christmas finds me brimming with gifts...
While I have never been homeless, 2010 found me without a home of my own. It was a year of both emotional and great financial challenges. At one point Stacey, my friend of 25 years looked at me and said "How on earth are you not completely melting down?" My answer was a Cassandra-ism that I adopted for my own; "I choose not to struggle." I know this might sound pretty on paper, and spiritually "high falutin" in theory...but it really worked! Was I completely without worry? Not entirely, but the decision to focus on what I have vs. what I may have perceivably lost in the eyes of others, was definitely a test of faith. Do you know what I learned? What I have known all along, but forgotten from time time. That by the Universe I am always loved. Always provided for. Most importantly, that what we focus our spiritual energy on, well, it grows things...
A couple of weeks ago, I had a opportunity to leave my temporary housing behind, and move literally right into the house of my dreams.With the aid of a roommate, I will be able to live there less expensively than I did in my last apartment! The other day I cashed in my coins at the grocery store to buy a Christmas tree. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to find one I could afford, and that the good ones would be long ago picked over. Really, what were the chances that just 6 days before Christmas I would find the PERFECT 8' tree for just $10? I did. There won't be any presents under it, but people I love and adore are coming over, and we're having homemade meat pies. Everybody's pitching in a bottle of booze for Martha's best ever egg nog, and there will be a roaring fire fueled by my gracious new neighbor's abundant stockpile of wood.
I kinda feel like Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street every time I approach the front door...
When I started 2010, I had no idea that things would escalate to the place where I would have to forfeit my comfortable apartment, nor that by years end I would be living in a dream house. The real gifts are not the ones in shiny packages, but the ones that are unexpected, wrapped in love, and contain wisdom.
I hadn't had creamed corn in ages. It was delicious.
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