Live Within Your Means This Christmas.

Ah yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year - so the song goes.
It's also one of the most chaotic times of the year.
Some Bajans live to impress and show off  and their desire to keep up with the Jones' in December often means running from the bailiff in  January.
Most of us have heard the stories of persons who decorate their homes with new furniture and appliances only to have them carted back to the store in the new year.

As a child, like most children in middle income Barbadian homes, I have grown up with the ritual of decorating the tree a few weeks prior to Christmas day, stringing a barrage of lights about the place, cleaning the house and baking the ham and pork on Christmas eve. Each family has it's own way of doing things.

Whoever said Christmas was for children had a valid point, for as I grew up Christmas became so commercialized, it was all about the gifts I was no longer receiving and the money that I could not afford to spend. The lights and tree and cleaning became tiresome rituals I no longer wanted to be bothered with after a long hectic week of work and being raised in a Christian background I always figured, if Jesus was born in a manger meek and lowly, why were people killing themselves to have so much extravagance on the day of his birth.

Notice I said I was raised in a Christian environment. I do not seek to argue with any reader weather or not Christmas day is in December or January or if it even exist at all. Moving on...

It came to my attention that non - believers were the ones who turned Christmas into a big fiasco (I love that word), since they don't celebrate Jesus they could might as well find some way to make money out of another supposedly sacred holiday, but now Christians themselves have jumped on the Santa Clause bandwagon and they don't care one way or another if the Easter Bunny comes down the chimneys they do not have, as long as there is ham to give him.

So I ran away from my traditional Christmas at home and had Christmas at another house where there was no tree, no new curtains or mats, and due to the fact that everyone in the house was vegetarian there was no chicken, ham or pork either. I recall someone asking me how I survived it.
It was the best Christmas I ever had thus far in my adult hood. Four friends, some fish and some salads was all it took.
I did not label this post - "What does Christmas mean to you?" as I was going to. Christmas means different things for everyone. For some it is the celebration of a baby messiah, for others it's about gifts and trappings, and for some it is just another ordinary day. The point I really wanted to get across is this. It doesn't take a whole lot of money to make a wonderful memory. It doesn't take a whole lot of money to make a tradition or to make what it is important count.

This year has been financially difficult for many people and  I know this month many will want to hang their heads in shame if they cannot afford new household items or gifts for friends. Many of you will place yourselves in foolish situations and debt to afford things you think you cannot do without over the holiday.
You CAN do without a ham, a case of plus and a gallon or rum. YOU CAN. 

This year, recognize what is really important in your life.
 Live within your means this Christmas and see that happiness cannot be bought in any store. 

Bisous!!xoxo