It's Christmas

It's Christmas, and I'm wiped out! There is just so much going on. It's tiresome, but at the same time I love it. What can be better than spending hours with family and friends? I think I have 2 free days over the next 7, so essentially those 2 days are planned as well since we'll have to do everything we can't do on our planned days.

I really enjoy being busy, but I equally enjoy having no plans. I like not having to rush somewhere or being on a schedule. I like being able to wake up and say "What do I want to do today?". At the same time, I like having plans. I like to know what I'm going to be doing that day.

Thus, the dilemma. How to divide time. I thought it was easy for awhile. More and more it seems there is so much going on. I can think of dozens of people I haven't hung out with in months or years, and I miss them. At the same time, we've also gone down different roads. Where we used to go to the same church, we attend different churches now. They have kids, and we don't. Jobs are differents. Houses are different and bigger. It's the natural change of life.

How do we keep it together? How can we keep everyone close? I think the answer is that we can't, so we shouldn't let it bother us. There are season in life, and there are seasons in our relationships. We may be close one day, and you wake up 6 months later and you haven't talked in months.

I can remember Christmases spent with friends and family only a few years ago, and the people I hang out with now are nearly 100% different. I'm happy, but at the same time I would give just about anything to spend time with those who are now distant. Those are the people who helped me become me. They were there in some of my tough times. They were there in some of my happy times. We laughed together. We were angry together. We went out together. We were a part of each other's lives.

So though I feel melancholy right now, I really have never been happier. I have the world's greatest wife. I have the world's greatest in-laws. I have the world's best parents. My brother and sister have married their world's greatest, and have the world's greatest kids. The nephews and niece bring alot of joy to my life. I have the world's greatest dog.

So what do I do? I try to spend time with those who have become distant, but spend my time pouring into the ones who are close today. You never know when the road splits, and the ones who are close today become the ones distant in the future.

Merry Christmas