I overheard someone the other day spewing negative rants about Christmas, how commercialized it was, and how he didn’t believe in a god, higher power or anything outside this world. “When I die, I’m dirt,” he said.

Whether you believe in a higher power than yourself, Christmas is not what’s in the shopping cart, but rather what’s in your heart. Christmas represents a lot of different things to everyone, but the most signifiant part of Christmas is a state of mind.

I love this time of year. I get to pull out my Christmas music and sing loudly, along with the songs that lighten my heart and fill me with happiness. It changes my state of mind from the daily chaos and grind. I shift into a spiritual state where I connect with the God I believe in and I allow silence to come so I can feel God’s presence. My Christmas then becomes the connection I have with my creator, the One I give thanks to. Life becomes one of gratitude and celebration.

Even as I start the “purchasing” part of Christmas….you know, buying for the kids and grandkids, my thoughts are those of gratitude, for my life being blessed with my children and my grandchildren and the loving husband I have.

My thoughts center around what I can do for those I love. That in of itself is transforming. There is no greater gift than the kindness you can show and give to others.

Still a lot of people think Christmas is all about presents, meals, and making things “perfect” in the “perfect setting.” There is no such thing as perfect. There only “is.” In this wonderful life, everything is perfect, in all its imperfections. Enjoy the moments. Pay attention to everything and everyone around you and just let it be as it is, and be thankful.

My husband’s sister is so cute. She had a hard time understanding how we could spend Christmas in a warm climate with 80 degree temps and sunshine. “There’s no snow!” she said. My husband just laughed and reminded her, “Honey, baby Jesus was born in the desert with palm trees.” We still laugh about that.

For my sister-in-law, Christmas was what she had grown accustomed to growing up, which is the same for many people. But then afterwards, they are exhausted and wonder how the time flew by, without many moments of pure enjoyment.

Christmas will be what you make it. Everyone has different traditions, religions and ways to worship. They are all good. I certainly have mine. But if you want to make it different than it’s been, you have to start by looking inside yourself and finding a connection to something deeper and greater than yourself. Spend even a few minutes in silence and feel the gratitude for your life. Everyone has something to be grateful for. Look for it, because it’s not hidden. You have to choose to “see it.”

I feel grateful for the quiet early dawn, savoring the warmth and slumbering silence of my neighborhood, and the rainbow of colors in the sky as the sun begins its ascent, bringing another beautiful day. My thoughts return to an old man I met on a beach one evening. He had been coming to that same spot every night for twenty years to watch the sunset. He told me, “I was blessed with one more day, to see one more sunset. As long as I can, I will come here every evening to be thankful for that.”

My wish for this Christmas is that everyone finds some peace, love and gratitude within their hearts, and then pass it on to everyone around them.

“Christmas is not what’s in the shopping cart, but rather what’s in your heart.”