As we are in the festive season celebrating Christmas, let me wish all Candid Talk ardent readers a merry Christmas. This season is a season of celebrating friendship, family values and our beliefs in Jesus Christ. Of course non-believers are also welcome to join in the celebration.
However, the Christmas celebration has evolved over the years becoming one of the most celebrated festivals in the world. It is very commercialised to the extent that business people make millions if not billions during this season. If we have saved enough resources, this is the time to make merry and treat family and friends to some good food and lots of partying.
But it is also ok to celebrate the day and the season within our means if we do not have resources or if we have more pressing issues that need the resources. In our education system, the calendar dictates that in January our children who are still in school, will go back to class. This means tuition fees and groceries for those who attend boarding schools. For these things to happen, we will need to dig deep into our pockets and make the resources available.
As we celebrate Christmas, we also need to remember that for those of us living in rented houses, in January which is just a week from Christmas day, we have to pay the owners of the houses some rentals. Some houses need a three-month rental upfront.
Now, in our society, we tend to do things to impress who will not be there when we are suffering. I mean wearing beautiful clothes, hosting parties and taking road trips is fun and fulfilling.
But before we embark on such endevours, it is important to see
how much money we have what that money can cover. It is also important to start with things we cannot live without.
This thing of calling our friends and family in January looking for loans and expecting them to just have the resources is abuse of relationships. Just because they appear to have their lives in order, it doesn’t mean they have budgeted for us. To avoid becoming a burden in our friends’ and families’ lives, let us exercise prudence with our spending during the festive season.
We can still have fun without spending thousands or millions.
Activities that do not demand too many resources include church-based ones which actually concentrates on the core meaning of Christmas. I hope as we go towards the day, we will not be bust buying things we don’t actually need. But if we saved enough resources, why not? Life is meant to be enjoyed, right?
Just don’t go about bothering others in January with loan requests. Sometimes even the best of friends and relatives get tired of helping and coming to our rescue multiple times, especially during these obvious times.
Having celebrated so many Christmas days, we should not be still doing the same things we were doing 10 years ago. Let us do better, plan better and having meaningful Christmas celebrations without spending too much especially as our economy continues to go through challenging times.
And remember, this is Jesus Christ’ birthday, not yours!
Celebrate Christ and do it responsibly. We don’t want to lose any lives during this season. Merry Christmas Candid Talkers.
