Are you pitching a tent for the Black Friday sales or are you sitting on the computer on Cyber Monday?

Black Thursday, Black Friday, Small business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are all names intent on removing money from wallets.  Here is my issue, however, they weren’t happy just focusing on Friday with lines wrapped around the building.  They had to take away Thanksgiving.  Now, the lines start on Thanksgiving Day.  They pitch tents and bring chairs and sit in the frigid cold. And for what, a flat-screen TV or the latest gaming system?

“Material-itis” is what I call it.  It is the need for material things over any other needs.  And are you truly honest with yourself? How much are you really paying for that 55-inch TV? Time is money.  You may not realize it but you are working for an object as you sit and sleep on the sidewalk in the cold.

When I was a kid, we got one gift.  It wasn’t extravagant.  It didn’t take three months of salary to pay for.  We didn’t make lists that contained things that were hard to obtain. Parents didn’t have to fight unscrupulous people who sit in lines to buy hard to get items so they can sell it for 10 times as much on eBay. Whatever we got we appreciated.  We didn’t get multiple gifts either.  One person, one gift that was the way it was.

Whose birthday is it anyway?  It’s not yours, it’s not mine, and it’s not theirs.  Who should really be getting the gifts?  And if he were to say what he really wanted, it wouldn’t be a material thing.  Do you think he would want a 60- inch flat screen TV, of course not? It would be easy to get him a gift.  He would want you to be kind.  He would want you to give to someone less fortunate.  It would be to buy something for a stranger without expecting anything in return.  Mostly he would want you to spread love, and love doesn’t cost a thing.  You can spread the love on Black, purple, or any color or day of the week.

So for those who are pitching those tents for Material gains.  For those who will push and shove and cut through lines for TV’s and more I say you are missing out on the true feeling and meaning of Christmas.  You are putting greed in your hearts instead of love.  I guess it will continue until you realize that one day those TV’s you worked so hard to get will be sitting in a landfill with all the other material things you once valued above all else. 

So this Christmas, I hope you are like me and steer clear of the sales that are nothing but a way to get you in a store, but if you do venture out, spread some love. Make someone’s day a little brighter even if it’s only because you smiled at him or her. And then you will see what Christmas means to me.