What Buying a Christmas Tree Taught Me

     I love this time of year, the Christmas Season is one of my favorites. Everyone is in the spirit of giving, serving, and helping others. I also think that we often times get caught up in what others think about us or we compare ourselves to others. We see all the perfect Christmas decorations and trees on Instagram and Facebook and we compare our lives and situations to those pictures. I have to admit that I get caught in that trap sometimes and this year I wanted to try and have the perfect Christmas for my family. So my wife and I decided to do something we have never done before in the 17 years we have been married, we decided to get a real Christmas Tree. 

     So the story starts out like this. A few weekends ago we decided it is time to go find our tree. So we ask for recommendations online of where a good place to get a tree is. We get some good ideas and on Saturday we head out to find one. We check a few places and then we come to a tree lot not far from our home. They have a variety of trees to pick from and we start looking around at all the trees. Both Lacey and I want to get a nice tree that is going to look nice in our home. We keep looking at all these trees and try to imagine what it will look like in our family room. Many of the trees we look at seem small compared to others trees on the lot, so we start to look at some of the mid size trees thinking that is what we would want in our home. We keep comparing them to the smaller trees and want something that looks like a decent size but not the biggest trees on the lot. So we finally find one we both agree on and tell the gentlemen we will take it. We pay him and he helps us get it loaded on top of our suburban. We drive home and unload it, haul it into our front room and set it in the tree stand and realize it is huge, way bigger then it looked on the tree lot compared to many of the other trees. It's so big I have to get out the ladder to get the lights on it up to the top, I have never had to do that with any of our fake trees in the past. 

     As I thought about this tree later and why we felt the other trees that where smaller were not what we wanted I came to the conclusion that it was because we were comparing them to those huge trees on the lot. To us the tree we got looked middle size and not that big when compared to other trees on the lot. It wasn't until we got it home and put it up in our living room that things were put into perspective and how big it really was. 

     I feel we often do this to our selves in many ways. We compare our selves to all the other people around us or what we see on social media. We feel like what we have is not enough or that we aren't doing good enough. Maybe its we feel like we are not good parents or a good spouse. Maybe well feel like other people are more blessed then we are and we don't have what we want in our life. It often takes us putting things into perspective to see how much we do have, how blessed we are in the whole picture of things. We need to stop comparing ourselves and our situation to the other trees on the lot. Be grateful for the many things we do have and the blessings in our lives. Look around and see all the things we have and what we can do to help those around us. I'm grateful for this holiday season and the many blessings I have. My family is beautiful and healthy. I have a nice home to live in with running water and food to feed my children. Many people in the world don't have that and that saddens me. I'm very grateful for the ability I have to get up each morning and try in some small way to make the world around me a little better, even if it is just to say hello to a stranger or to offer a smile to someone walking by. We should all look for the good in what we have, not compare us to others and look to help those around us in ways that we can with the talents and resources we have to offer, especially in this holiday season. I pray that each of us can remember what Christmas is about and what it means to us personally. May you and your family have a wonderful Christmas Season and enjoy the beauty we have around us. 

To your great success and happiness. Merry Christmas,

Adam and Lacey Platt