Christmas, it's all around us.

I was listening to the radio today while I worked and wasn't one bit surprised to hear that people spend on average $1000 on xmas presents.

That's a lot of dosh for a few presents and it's only the average. There are plenty who spend a lot more than that. Families especially that have a lot of people to cover.

With the way that the year has been going so far in terms of costs it makes an already difficult time of year even more difficult.

People get caught up in the hype of the occasion and forget about the realities of life. Every ad and show has been hyping the xmas season for weeks now and we are still only early December. From working in retail I remember that the xmas food used to come into stock before the Halloween stock. Once it hit the shelves people would buy it and there was some profit to be made from that.

What used to be a family holiday about spending time together and showing others that you appreciate them has transformed into a massive consumer frenzy driven by advertisers to get your money from you.

It stopped being about religion and people a long time ago. The whole concept isn't even a true holiday as it was stolen from pagans and used to bring a new religion into play by taking old customs and putting a different spin on them to make it easier for the pagans to swallow.

Now it's been circumvented again by big business that pretend to care about the holidays while using it to line their own pockets.

Now some families take it so far as to borrow money and get into debt just to show that they are having the perfect tv xmas.

Nothing is worth that.

The holiday is great to catch up with friends and family.
The meaning behind it is worthwhile and pure.
The old celebration about celebrating life.

I hope that people take the holiday in that sprit and buy presents that have some though behind them.

Do it because they want to and not because they feel pressurized by life.

Live within your means and make the most of what you have.

There are more important things in life and while it might not seem that way form all of the pressure in a few years most people won't remember what they got for xmas but what they did for it.