The Holidays...the end of the innocence.

Accept the holidays for what they are...a time to reflect.

At the very least, it is a time to re-examine where you've been and where you're going.

If you are over 9 years old, the holidays are simply not what they used to be...Christmas vacation, department store displays with huge Christmas trees and model trains running around them, pictures with Santa at the mall, anticipating gifts and toys under the tree, and the innocence of youth.

The holidays really are the last of the childhood innocences. As adults, we must accept them for what they are, not for what they have become. All of us are well aware of what the holidays have transformed into...the commercialism, the media hype, the expense. Even the philanthropic organizations spend way too much time and effort in an attempt to make us feel guilty for not giving enough. How obsurd!

Reflect and remember. Then take a few moments to plan for the future, next year...goals and dreams. Enjoy the holidays in the faces of the children as well...they will all too soon wake up one day with the realization that their end of the innocence has come.