The Joy of Christmas Cards...

With the exception of this year, I have faithfully mailed out Christmas cards to friends, family and acquaintances (both old and new). I typically take the time to hand-write a personal greeting to each and every recipient. For some odd reason, I have found this task to be therapeutic – perhaps a simple way of showing my appreciation of how much this person’s friendship has meant to me.

I never expected the card giving gesture to be reciprocated by all, but I admit that it was nice to arrive home to find a Christmas card or two in the pile of mail sitting on the kitchen counter. A card is a relatively cheap gift to give, but the warm thoughts that come with them are priceless.

I don’t know what happened to me this year and I don’t have an excuse – other than I was lazy in failing to write a single note or managing to mail even one card. I’m saddened by my lack of Christmas cheer.

In not sending these cards, I have also notice that I did not receive many either. What does that mean to me?

Well, it means that I’m disappointed in myself for failing to complete this simple task, but it also means that I’ve lost a little faith along the way.

I’ve lost faith in those that I typically send these cards to. I’ve began to wonder if the only reason I received cards in the first place was because they were sent out of guilt. “Oh crap, TDG sent us a Christmas card AGAIN. Now, we don’t have any choice but to send one to HER!”

Yep – mercy cards. That’s what it’s feeling like to me and while I don’t like the feeling, I’m more determined than ever to get back on track next year and carry on with my Christmas card giving tradition.

You may ask, “Why bother?”

The answer is simple – REVENGE and to be bothersome. If all it takes is a simple Christmas card to make someone remember my friendship, feel guilty and reciprocate the gesture, then my job is done…

Happy Holidays!!!