The night is slowly aging but the dawn of a new day is still hours away. The darkness swirls around the village, like the sludgy dregs of coffee in my mug. When the light finally pierces through it will still be dull and depressingly dark for most of the day. The big light is often on when it should not be. It is cold, I should be asleep but, once again, insomnia keeps me company. This is becoming the normal pattern for me now, and I will sleep later in the day, only to be disturbed by the ringing of the phone or the calling of a courier.
The radio is on for company and once more, people go on about the Government taking away the Winter Fuel Payment from all but the most vulnerable and the impending repercussions of this cruel decision. It was sudden and swiftly done, State Pensioners had no time to prepare, and the cost of fuel continues to soar. It puts a dent in the budget of most of us and will affect the health of many in the coming months as people must choose between food or fuel. Heat or Eat as it is now known.
The news is full of misery, sorrow, disaster, wars, natural disasters, an endless stream of bad news, negative energy, not what we need to be talking about or thinking about as we slip into the darkest time of year. I scroll the news, these days I believe it is called "doomscrolling". I actively decide to stop. I don't need this. Just as I lift my finger from the mouse to stop and just as I do I see that a new category of news stories rolls onto my screen. Uplifting Stories. Now that's more like it! A collection of news that warms the spirits, makes us smile, brings us joy. Stories such as a 16 foot knitted Christmas Tree to tackle loneliness, or the podcast story of a Scout Hut saved by the kindness of strangers, or the wedding saved by an hotel manager when the original plans were destroyed by Storm Darragh. We need more like this in our news feed. We need change for the better and it is up to us to be that change.
This is Advent. A four week period of time when Christians across the world prepare for the arrival of a new baby who will bring change. Advent is a noun which means the beginning of an event, the invention of something, or the arrival of a person. In a few days Advent will be over, Christmas will be here and then it will be New Year. The time of arrival of the resolutions to be a better person, of new beginnings and fresh starts. Within days, it becomes a time of epic failure for many as resolutions are broken. For that very reason I do not make resolutions, they set you up for failure by the very name Resolutions. Maybe intentions is better, less cut in stone and easier to begin again with purpose. They say it takes 30 days to break a habit so if you are making changes don't be hard on yourself if you don't get it right first time. Don't word them setting yourself up for failure, set them up for success. Now I'm not even sure if I am making sense, I hope you understand my rambling and cut me some slack for after all it is barely 3:30 a.m. and I am awake when I should be asleep.
There's music on the radio now, I think I'll ask the disembodied voice {Alexa} to play my Christmas playlist, and I'll be talking Christmas music tomorrow.
Until then . . .
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