A Tale of Two Tales

So there are these two ladies whom I work with (one at each job) who are old enough to be my mother. One lady is sort of an older more improved version of me. Rarely will you ever see her even hint at being truly upset, sure she gets somewhat aggravated here and there and let's out some frustration, but never is it at the end of the day a real big deal. She sings randomly, seems to always have a 'genuine' smile, and just reeks a warming feeling with her presence. The other lady sadly is quite the opposite in this reference: She complains just about everyday about some thing period, and doesn't just complain about it and it's over, but really has a problem with something, EVERYDAY. She is always depressed due to her certain circumstances, which are still better than most peoples at the end of the day. Her needs are covered as far as I know. Her main gripe at the end of the day is that she once was rich and now she isn't due to the common practices of the corporate world. Either way, I personally feels as though God is trying her to help her but she isn't getting the message so he keeps making it worst until she gets it.

So I'm at work today with the depressing, complaining one and she ask me how am I doing today. I simply replied, "I'm pretty ok outside of me being somewhat sick." She responds, "physically or mentally." I'm thinking, why would I ever be mentally sick with God on my side. So I respond with, "my throat is still soar and the other day I had a headache all day, my mental will always be ok." She replies, "well I'm mentally sick, no matter what I do, no matter how much I pray, things just keep getting worst, and I can't figure out what God is trying to teach me and its driving me crazy." Now to most people, you would feel for her, or want to console her or help her, but this is her just about everyday. On top of that, she finishes up with these statements; "Everyday I wake up it's just more bad things, it's to the point where sometimes I just don't want to get out of bed." I WAS FURIOUS ON THE INSIDE. Needless to say, be careful what you ask for, and I'm going to leave that there. But if that wasn't enough, she sums up the conversation with this, "Christmas use to be my holiday......" She basically goes on about how she use to have so much money and could get people all these gifts and that would be what made Christmas special to her, to be able to do all that for people and now that she can't she's depressed. I left the store after this point to keep myself from hurting her feelings.

First and foremost; CHRISTMAS ISN'T ABOUT SANTA CLAUSE AND GIFT GIVING!!! Like I said, this is a woman who is old enough to be my mother who claims to believe in God and so on and so on, but yet, your sitting here truly upset that you can't provide multiple gifts for your family like you use to. My gosh I was annoyed. I learned Christmas wasn't about gifts how many years ago and to just be with family and to celebrate the birth of our saviour is what it all was about. Like I said, I had to leave the store. So I left the store and went over to my other job to vent to the loving, never too upset older lady. She obviously agreed with me and the icing on the cake was when she said, "Paul does she have kids," which I replied, "yes," and she replied with, "well tell her that gifts aren't everything because I wouldn't give one gift it meant I could have my son with me this Christmas." AND SHE SAID IT WITH SO MUCH WARMTH, NOT HURT, NOR DEPRESSION. We debate on who should try and set her straight but I promote that I've been trying to help her over and over again, and all she does is agree and still act the same way. So we agree that we'll just pray because at the end of the day, that's all you can do sometimes for people. They have to do it themselves and prayer changes things.

This was a tale I had to share to hope and pray that nobody is depressed this holiday season for the wrong reasons. I have a house to call home, clothing on my back, food to eat and a job to go to. I have family and friends who truly love and appreciate me. If I don't give out one gift, only my one younger cuz, will be upset (history to that, haha). At the end of the day, if all I could do was just show my face between Christmas eve and the end of Christmas day, that would more than be enough. On the other hand, I haven't requested or expected a Christmas gift nor birthday gift since I was about 17 to the point that I would be upset if I didn't receive it. I am truly thankful that my needs are taking care of and that I have a fortune in Love in my account. Happy Holidays everybody...God Bless.