Christmas is supposed to be a festive season, but the reality is it can be a difficult, horrible, traumatic time of the year as well. For many reasons.
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People often get stressed by the increased pressures this period of year can bring. You only need to drive around a local shopping centre car park to witness that the time of “peace and goodwill” is often anything but.
“Joy” and “cheer” is replaced by the sound of the angry beeping of the car horn and a few well chosen expletives.
Yet, thankfully, there is the light among the shade. Those little magic moments that happen which reinforce the meaning of what this time of the year is meant to represent.
A little further north, Fairfax reader Karin Payne snapped one of those magic moments at the weekend and sent it into the Illawarra Mercury.
Some mystery Christmas cheer spreader had randomly decorated a weed protruding from near a storm drain at Oak Flats with Christmas baubles.
“I walked to work with a smile.” Karin said after finding the little Christmas surprise.
The Mercury shared Karin’s image on Facebook and it seems thousands agreed.
“How wonderful! That has made me feel a bit more Christmassy,” one reader on Facebook rejoiced.
Others signed off with smiley faces and Christmas tree emoji.
Such a simple little thing, but a gentle reminder of how doing something small can have a big impact at this time of year. Let this be a lesson for how we can all carry ourselves this Christmas.
Hold a door open for someone. Offer a smile not a scowl. Help someone in need if you see them struggling. Be nice, not naughty.
And remember losing the car space in the shopping centre car park really is the definition of a “first world problem”.
If we all took a few seconds to do something to ensure someone else got a smile out of this time of year, it would truly put the spirit into the festive season.
And to the little Christmas elf who decorated the weed at Oak Flats. Who knows what your intentions were and maybe you were just having a bit of a laugh.
No matter, your little deed provided many with a smile and a bit of inspiration this Christmas.
Hopefully Santa was watching and rewards you in return on Christmas Day.