First-ever Guest Post: The Good Now Days by David Carpenter

My sixteen-year-old brother, David, wrote this piece yesterday after watching the finale of the TV show The Office. I enjoyed reading his perspective and hope that you will as well.

The Good Now Days

by David Carpenter 

Over the last few months I've been watching The Office from pilot to finale, and as the one of the most beloved sitcoms in history came to its beautifully climatic and emotional end, Andy made the statement, "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." This quote made me think. At 16 years of age many people think of these, the days I live now, as those ever elusive "Good Ole Days". Yet, if you were to ask those my age of when those days transpired they would tell you of much earlier days in elementary and middle school. 

Some would tell you the early days of their marriage before the stresses of life interfered with the wonderment of true love. Ask others however and talk of their children's early, middle, and yes, even teenage years, and wishes of more time spent together as a family. A person might think back to those “good old days” before their retirement, a certain desk mate or boss might bring a tear to their eye... but, who am I kidding?  

Ultimately we miss those days gone by because we fail to realize the beauty of the time in which we live now. I daily spend time talking to friends where often our conversation goes to how we can't wait to get out, go to college, become independent. Yet we spend so much time thinking of our destination that we completely miss the journey. Young married couples are so caught up in careers and futures that the beauty of pure love is lost. Parents are often to busy for games of catch, a push on the swing set, or a quick trip to get a burger, yet those are the moments that you will remember years later. We often rush to our places of work, struggle through the day and hurry back home, never taking a look around the room to see those around you and what one day you might even miss. 

As you go into 2014 consider this... THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS!! You're living in them now. In 2014 millions of people will be married, even more become engaged. Millions of babies will be born, and every one who is here in a year will have turned a year older. Whether you are 6, 16, or 65, age doesn't matter.  Appreciate what and whom you have because you never know when you'll be wishing you could have them back. Thank you Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, you've made me realize that these are the days of my life, and thank you Andy Bernard, because I Will Remember You too! 

Please Stop Trying to Win Christmas

Over the last few days as I have scrolled through social media newsfeeds, I have seen many statuses about family time and thoughtful gifts, and many pictures of food, presents, festive scenes and holiday decorations. And honestly, I have enjoyed it! It makes me happy to know that my friends are having a good Christmas season.

But it seems that for a few people, the goal of posting a picture is not to share their joy with others but to validate themselves.

If I have a simple and sweet Christmas morning, but don't post about it so that at least 20 friends can "like" my picture or "favorite" my tweet, did it really happen?

It seems that there is an unspoken spirit of competition on social media in general that escalates around the holiday season. One person posts a picture of a Christmas tree, so the next posts a picture of their tree next to a blazing fireplace. The next person posts a similar picture but includes a cup of coffee; the next person notes in the caption that his coffee is from Starbucks and makes sure that the mountain of presents under the tree is obvious in the picture. And so we one-up each other all down the newsfeed.

We find ourselves moving furniture, setting up a scene that doesn't even exist in real life just to get the perfect shot. Then the coffee grows cold while we flip through every filter until we get it just right, post the picture on instagram, and share it to facebook and twitter. We wait on the edge of our seats for the "likes" to start coming in - on a picture of an artificial event that never took place.

Parents go into debt to buy their children extravagant gifts. They forego giving simple, lovingly chosen gifts and stand in line to buy an iPad Mini instead, not because they want their child to have one but because it's what the other parents are getting and they fear their children will not be happy unless they get one too.

When we do this, we sabotage our own joy. We don't consider our real experiences, the simple joys of the Christmas season, to be worth posting. We fear that our picture, our story, our family, our decorations won't measure up to others'. Suddenly, the season of joy has become a season of comparison and jealousy.

So please stop trying to "win" Christmas. I'm not saying that we ought to quit posting pictures or statuses, or that all who do so are presenting a false reality. But should you find yourself wondering if your picture is "good enough" to post, if you realize that you are struggling to craft a status that says "Merry Christmas" in a completely new way because you are afraid it won't be unique, then you may need to take a step back.

Christmas isn't about competition. Christmas isn't about the fear of missing out. Christmas isn't about feeling inadequate. Christmas isn't about jealousy.

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ our Saviour. Christmas is about traditions - your traditions, and whatever they are, your traditions are good enough. Christmas is about giving, whether the gift is large or small, out of a heart of love. Christmas is about being thankful for what we have.

Stop trying to win Christmas. Forget about impressing others and be thankful for every precious moment. I wish you a merry Christmas: a happy time with those that you love, rest, celebration, tradition, beauty, and joy.