Ivy Nagel

I used to get so irritated when I would see Holiday decorations popping up the day after Halloween. I always thought, "Geez! It's not even close yet. I bet they'll start advertising in July next year!" This year when I saw the first holiday decorations, the day after Halloween, I was so excited! Who doesn't love Christmas? And Thanksgiving? And watching the fall leaves change color, watching the nights arrive sooner, feeling the air turn cooler? It's such a "wonderful time of the year." .

Seeing holiday decorations makes me feel better. I used to feel frustrated because I thought about it so negatively. I'd think to myself, "Why so early? They're just trying to make more money." But really seeing them I get excited and now I think, "Yea! It's almost here." It reminds me of how thankful I am for everything: my family, my healthy children, the home we live in, good friends, and so much more. It literally lifts my spirits and makes me smile. And it does make me want to start shopping too....

The holiday decorations also make me think about everything that goes on during the this time of year. I am excited to see my cousin's from San Diego and my Aunt and Uncle. We just celebrated Thanksgiving with my sisters and their families down in San Luis Obispo and despite the five hour drive it was wonderful to see them. I can't wait to make my husband rake up all of the leaves that fell off of our huge Maple tree. I'm excited to help my kids pick out the biggest Christmas tree I can find (which reminds me that I'm thankful for a very tall ceiling). Even though my husband will try to convince me that we don't need one that tall, I'll rally the troops and we'll whine enough to get our way. And then soon enough Christmas really will be here and I'll get to see my children open their gifts. I cannot wait. I no longer care whether or not they advertise early and I hope next year they do start advertising in July.

One morning I went to Starbucks to get my husband and myself a cup of coffee. After spending most the night and the wee hours of the morning awake with our sick three-year-old, I felt we deserved it! Since it was a Saturday morning there were plenty of people in line with me. After ordering I stood there patiently waiting for my jolt of espresso. A woman behind me asked the man behind the counter if a vanilla latte was on the way, "Yes, I have it...it'll just be another minute." "I'm already late for a meeting, don't bother, don't make it!" And she walked out the door. Soon after, my drinks were ready. While I collected my coffees another woman walked up to the counter for the second time and snapped at the busy barista, "This is getting a little ridiculous!" Now I was there long before her and I waited for maybe seven minutes from the time I ordered my drinks to the time I got them in my hot little hands. I looked the barista directly in the eye and said, "Thank you, I really appreciate you, have a great day."

A recent event in my life has shown me to look at things and ask myself, "How important is it?" Our infant was in the ICU and hospital for eight days with what turned out to be botulism, an extremely rare illness. We are so thankful that he made a full recovery. In retrospect, how important is it that it took me three minutes longer to get my coffee that morning? It's meaningless. How important is it that I show compassion toward the barista who is most likely overworked and underpaid? Extremely important. If you find yourself in a frustrating experience, please take a moment to ask yourself, "How important is it?" And please remember to treat everyone with compassion because you never know what life experience they are going through.