The Magic of Christmas

It’s still there.

I can feel it…

It’s more of a spark now, rather than an avalanche of excitement as it used to be, but it is still there.

When I was little, I used to be really excited for Christmas well early. August early. One year I had bought everyone’s Christmas presents by the end of July, but didn’t want to wrap them then, so I hid them in a wardrobe so no-one would find them. The wardrobe was regularly used, so what made me think it was the perfect hiding place is beyond me. Nobody said that they had seen them though, so it must have been the perfect hiding place! I put it down to the Magic of Christmas, so anyone who opened the wardrobe door only saw the clothes and not the neat stack of ‘things’ in the bottom corner – they had been magically transported to a different plane whilst the door was open. They returned again when the door was closed. And once, I’m sure I opened the door and they weren’t there. I must have been wearing a new pullover that day and the Magic of Christmas didn’t recognise me.

A few years earlier, when I was even smaller, one Christmas Eve, I was getting ready for bed after having a bath. The bathroom was upstairs and in the corner of the house, and above it was the roof. The roof was a regular roof, a sloped roof, so what I heard next was unbelievable. There was a couple of thuds on the roof, or just above the ceiling, and then the sound of jingling bells. I quickly told my Mum and Dad what I had heard, I’m not sure if they believed me, but I definitely heard it. It sounds now as though it could have been one of them making the sounds from outside of the bathroom, but there would have been no way for them to make the sound come from above the bathroom, and you can tell where a sound is coming from. I rather excitedly dashed to bed, but couldn’t sleep… I felt the Magic of Christmas.

A few years before that, I was lucky enough to go for a sleigh ride all above the town on Christmas Eve. The sleigh was pulled by lots of reindeer, and a man in a red coat was laughing out loud. I can still feel the wind on my face to this day – it wasn’t like the normal wind, it was a gentle, comforting wind. I suppose I could have dreamed this, because I don’t think I would have been allowed out on my own at that age, but it was soooo real! I felt the Magic of Christmas!

Only a couple of years ago, I was working on Christmas Day. I was driving to work, and there was only me on the road. In fact, I think there was only me up and about, although it was light – it must have been around 9am. The sky was a mixture of a pale blue and pink, and everywhere was covered in snow. Which looked pink. As I was driving, it started to snow again, and on my car radio the Christmas version of East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’ was playing. I remember smiling to myself, and thinking “Wow!” I felt the Magic of Christmas!

Christmas can be a magical time for everyone, if everyone can see the magic through all of the associated stresses that come with it! What I do now if I notice that I’m starting to ‘panic’ about something (or something equally as no-goody-feely!), is think of the times I have experienced the Magic of Christmas in the past. The feel good feelings may only last for a few seconds, but they are there!

The good thing about feel good feelings is that they do exactly what it says on the tin!

Go on… Have a Magical Christmas!