How many times have you heard it said, 'don't sweat the small stuff' and 'life is too short'? I know I have said it and heard it countless times, and you know what? I believe it to be true! In the course of doing our business and trying to live our lives to the best of our abilities, there always seems to be something nipping at  our heels and trying to put us off course and inevitably there comes a day, when we stray from what we consider to be our normal selves and people around you take a second look, shake their head and wonder if it is the same person they knew yesterday.

         You might ask what causes the normal you to explode and say and do things that are totally out of your normal day-to-day being and what you believe to be your happy go lucky self, always with a smile, a 'how are things with you' and 'if there is anything I can do help you, just let me know!!' Doesn't that sound like and describe you as you feel people see you? I'm betting it is!! So how can that person take a 360 degreee turn and for that day, a second , and or a minute become someone that no one seems to recognize and become a reflection of a person who draws comments such as, 'who peed in their cornflakes', 'what's up with them', 'must be road rage', 'didn't get enough sleep last nite' or maybe 'he/she got too much sleep last nite', or 'he/she is having a bad hair day' and give them a wide berth and you don't want any part of him or her for the rest of the day and hope that tomorrow you will be able to recognize this person as their normal self?

       The important thing to remember when this happens, is that you know who the real person is and that you give him/her some slack and for as much as you would like to take a swipe at them, it is not the response that will improve the situation and you should give that persom some room and let them work things out and return to that person you know and love!!

    Christmas is a time for and a yearly reminder of peace and goodwill toward man, it  is also a time when people find it hard to cope with all that is going on and we, who are our normal selves should have the ability to recognize this and be that person who has a willing smile,  a sincere 'how are you', and 'is there anything I can do to help you' and mean it!! A smile on a person's face that you have done something nice for will say it all and give you a feeling that you may want to hang onto forever and not just at Christmas and it is a feeling that doesn't cost you a thing and you can't buy it in any store. It is the one thing that can't be manufactured, mass produced, commercialized and sold at any price!

So the moral I believe is pretty simple: put a smile on you face, be nice to people and care about them, and spread the peace and goodwill 365 days a year.  You will be a better person for it and the people around you will be better for it and you will have done your part to make the world a better place to live! So the ending is the same as the beginning; don't sweat the small stuff and life is too short  and there is proof of that everyday, just take a look around and someone who was here yesterday is gone, that in itself should be the motivation for all of us.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!