WIF - What if Fridays......

A year of life is like a garden in many respects - you look around and see things as they are now but in twelve months you can come back and some things will look unchanged, some will be taller, wider or will have died, been moved or will have outgrown their allotted space and are spilling over and invading everything!!

My wish for you this year is that you outgrow your allotted space - the one you may have created for yourself or circumstance has placed you in - and that you spill over and reach for everything you have ever dreamed of.  And that along the way you weed out the things that hold you back internally and externally.

So I have decided each Friday will be WIF - What if Friday - and each week I will challenge, remind or coax you to think/do/feel/dream What if.....

This week - What if you did something to day that you have been putting off - get it done, cross it of the list and you can go into the weekend knowing it is sorted.

Professionally it may be a long overdue phone call to a client - or a tough one.

For mums it may be cleaning out the pantry or identifying the grunge at the bottom of the vegetable drawer.

It may be a phone call to say sorry.

A bill that needs paying

Or in the case of one of my friends a dream - he wants to make a start on.

What ever it is - what if you were able to go to bed tonight and say "yep, I have done that.".

If you want to share what you did please leave a comment below.

Until next time 

Angela

Christmas trivia - Boxing Day

The last one in this series - I have enjoyed bringing these posts to you again this year - slowly over the last few weeks I have become engrossed in the traditions and history of this time of year.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day with your family today.

In English-speaking countries, the day following Christmas Day is called 'Boxing Day'. This word comes from the custom which started in the Middle Ages around 800 years ago: churches would open their 'alms boxe' (boxes in which people had placed gifts of money) and distribute the contents to poor people in the neighbourhood on the day after Christmas. The tradition continues today - small gifts are often given to delivery workers such as postal staff and children who deliver newspapers.

Christmas Eve -

Wednesday : Christmas Eve:

These are the lyrics to one of my all time favourite songs. "I Believe in Santa Claus" If the spirit of Christmas leaves you for a moment and you temporarily forget what this celebration is meant to be about just hum this to yourself and think of the words.

Merry Christmas Friends

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe there's always hope when all seems lost

And I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in Santa Claus,

I'll tell you why I do

'Cause I believe that dreams and plans and wishes can come true

I believe in miracles,

I believe in magic too

Oh I believe in Santa Claus

and I believe in you

I believe in family, in country and in smiles

I believe in turnin' negatives to positives in life

I believe in lookin' farther up the farther down we get

I believe when someone hurts us we should forgive and forget

And I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe love should prevail at any cost

And I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in saying what you mean and meaning what you say

I believe a better attitude can make a better way

And I believe in viewing life as a journey that we're on

And lookin' at our troubles as another stepping stone

And I believe that everything in life is what it's meant to be

I believe there is a God somewhere although he's hard to see

I believe I am so therefore I should do all that I can

To be a better piece in the puzzle of God's plan

And I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe there's always hope when all seems lost

And I believe in Santa Claus

Let the little children sing it

I believe in Santa Claus,

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in Santa Claus,

I believe in Santa Claus

Let the whole world sing it with us

I believe in Santa Claus,

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe in Santa Claus,

I believe in Santa Claus

I believe theres always hope when all seems lost

And I believe in Santa Claus

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Trivia - Christmas in Japan

Shimai Tenjin - 25 December Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, Kyoto The last festive market of the year at this large shrine in north-west Kyoto.

Kotohira-gu Shukiku - Late DecemberKotohira-gu Shrine, Kagawa PrefectureShinto shrine festival featuring kemari, a ceremonial game of kick-ups said to be a forerunner of soccer.

Namahage - 31 DecemberOga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture An ancient folk tradition still observed in villages all over the peninsula in which young men dressed in frightening namahage costumes visit the homes of children to warn them not to be lazy in the coming year.

Christmas Trivia - the 12 days of Christmas

The twelve days of Christmas refers to the period from Christmas Eve until the feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. 

Traditionally from the first Sunday in Advent (yesterday for those whose spirituality doesn't include church or mass) you decorate your home with candles, decorations and prepare food so that on Christmas Eve the culmination is a feast and the putting up of the Christmas Tree the crowning glory of the four weeks preparation. 

tree then stays up until the feast of the Epiphany January 6th - 12 days.

CHRISTMAS TRIVIA: The Tradition of the "gift"

The story of the wise men

After Jesus was born, wise men came to look for Him, from an area which is now in either Iran or Saudi Arabia. Although they are often called the "Three Kings", the Bible does not say how many there were, or that they were kings. Three is only a guess because they brought with them three gifts.

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

They were certainly men of learning - probably today we would call them philosophers or scientists. They had seen an unusual new star in the sky, and knew that it told of the birth of a special king. (The star they saw was probably a exploding "supernova" and is known from astronomical records.) They followed the direction of the star and eventually found the place where Mary, Joseph and Jesus were staying.

To bring honour to the child, they brought rich gifts: gold, frankincense (a resin which burns with a beautiful smell), and myrrh (plant oil with a very strong sweet smell). These gifts tell us in pictures three key things about Jesus:


Gold: a gift fit for a King


Frankincense: burnt in worship of God


Myrrh: a sign of mortal human-ness - it was used to bury the dead

Christmas Trivia - Misteltoe

Mistletoe was used by Druid priests 200 years before the birth of Christ in their winter celebrations. They revered the plant since it had no roots yet remained green during the cold months of winter.The ancient Celtics believed mistletoe to have magical healing powers and used it as an antidote for poison, infertility, and to ward of evil spirits. The plant was also seen as a symbol of peace, and it is said that among Romans, enemies who met under mistletoe would lay down their weapons and embrace.Scandanavians associated the plant with Frigga, their goddess of love, and it may be from this that we derive the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. Those who kissed under the mistletoe had the promise of happiness and good luck in the following year.