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Tuesdays With Ryz – Bill Murray Was Right

We’ve been watching Christmas movies at our house for the better part of this 4th quarter.  I love this time of year!  Whether you are celebrating with a menorah or a Christmas tree, we all are looking for answers this time of year – answers to the wishes we have on our lists for gifts, for gifts that others want, for reasons why loved ones are no longer with us, for relief from loneliness and heartache, or just self reflection for what is in store for next year. I just look forward to watching Scrooged, starring Bill Murray.

For those of you who have not seen it, do yourself a favor, and give yourself the gift of seeing it this year.  It is a 1980’s version of Charles Dickens’ classic story, but way funnier and entertaining.  And while Bill Murray’s character is the Ebenzer Scrooge-type named Frank Cross, the ending has moved me to tears with every showing.

Like Frank Cross, we all manage to find a miracle answer this time of year to a question we struggle with throughout the remaining 364 days – how can I be a better person?  

We want to be better and, if not for only a few days out of the year, we become the people we always know we can be.  We hug a little tighter, smile a little bigger, and give a little more than we normally do. It is a feeling that, regardless of the answers to our own wishes we receive, we find that the real gifts this holiday season are found in our ability to find the answers for someone else.

As we search for the answers in our own lives, the holidays show us that being the answer to someone else’s prayers and wishes is more fulfilling.  That’s the miracle of this time of year.  It is not the gifts under the tree, the food on the table, or the outfits we wear.  It is the warmth and love we share with those around us.  It is in giving that we truly receive.  That is the miracle, and it doesn’t just have to happen during the holidays.

At the end of the movie, Frank Cross delivers a speech that everyone should hear this time of year to remind them how they can keep this feeling going.  I won’t spoil it for you, but in his speech he says, “If you believe in this pure thing, the miracle will happen and you’ll want it again tomorrow! You won’t say, ‘Christmas is once a year and it’s a fraud.’ It’s not! It can happen every day! You’ve just gotta want that feeling!”

The answer to why this time of year is so special lies in you, and it doesn’t have to stop once the decorations come down.  

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.  Remember, I’m here for you if you need me.

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