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•Th e IF P• H al to n H ill s • Th ur sd ay , D ec em be r 1 9, 2 01 3 8 Georgetown's Only Single Serve Coffee Store 330 Guelph Unit 8 905-702-9856 www.prairierosecoffeeandtea.ca prairierosecoffeeandtea@gmail.com Thank you For Shopping Local* NOW OPEN! NEW TO GEORGETOWN Looking to try something different? Don't want to buy a full box of K-Cups? They can be purchased as singles! Don't see what you're looking for? We can try & get it for you!y & get it for you! YOUR ONE STOP SHOP for single serve coffee & teas The Only Store of its kind for single serve Coffee & Tea Over 350 styles & flavors to choose from Keurig, Pods, Fresh Roast Coffee, & Tea Sachets * Guelph St Raylawn Crescent A rm st ro ng Av e D el re x Bl vd Not long ago, one morning during my drive to work, the DJ on the radio was saying how he'd been out shop- ping the night before. He noted how the malls were full of tired, stressed- out looking people. I could relate-- The Sidekick and I, like thousands of others, spent last weekend shopping our brains out. Having said that, we did manage to get lots of gifts bought, but we were totally whacked by the end of the day. I asked myself, 'Why do we do this to ourselves every year?' Why do we take the most beautiful celebration of the year, and make it a source of stress and exhaustion? I thought about today's column-- I thought about what I could say in this Christmas issue, to make my readers, and myself, feel better and enjoy that beau- ty around them-- and not stress out about it. I remembered an edito- rial that I read several de- cades ago, and how, at the time, it made me re-think the Christmas season. I've kept a copy which I pull out from time to time to re-read. It was printed in the 1980s, in an issue of the Ac- ton Free Press. I'm guessing it had likely been recycled several times from previous decades in the Free Press. Entitled Recapture the Real Meaning of Christmas, it tells how we sometimes need a 'tonic' to 'relight that Christmas glimmer,' to enable us to appreciate the glow of the season. It read; "We worry about inflation, the climbing dollar, the price of grocer- ies, the driveway full of snow. We complain about the flu, the cold we're catching, the lack of sun, the cold, the wet, the damp, and anything else that is in vogue....." Even 30 years later, it still rings true. The editorial carried on to say, once in a while, we need a 'prescription for happiness' to get us back on track. It continued; "This Christmas, mend a quarrel, seek out a forgotten friend,. dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust, write a letter, share a treasure, give a soft answer, encourage youth, give a promise, find the time, forego a grudge, forgive an enemy, listen, apolo- gize if you're wrong..." As I read the words, I thought how things have changed very little during those past three decades. We still have inflation, we still worry about the price of things, and we still grumble. I sometimes wonder if things are re- ally as bad as we think, or it's simply our convenient reason to complain. Yes, we do have more pressures at Christmas time-- that's a giv- en. The workplace becomes more hectic and we feel the financial pressure with our Christmas shopping and all the other things like grocer- ies and treats that we think we must also procure to cel- ebrate the season. As I thought about all those feelings, I concluded that the old editorial is still on the right track. Maybe we should con- centrate more on gifts of the heart, and indeed, "mend a quarrel, seek out a forgotten friend, or even apologize for being wrong." And perhaps, if we do, we'll all be better people for it, and derive a certain peace and satisfac- tion for ourselves in the process. I know it's much easier said than done. I know I'll still worry about that perfect gift, I'll still stress about those end of the year bills coming in, and I know I'll never get over being exhausted from too much to do in too little time. But this Christmas, I'm making a concerted effort to reflect upon the joy of the season, and, if only for an in- stant, recapture that profound beauty and glow that it can give us. Take a moment, give it a try. Pick just one item from that edito- rial, and make yourself, and perhaps a friend or family member, feel better. Trust me, it's easier than you think. During this holiday season, The Sidekick joins me in wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and all the best in the coming new year. --Ted Brown can be reached at tbrown@theifp.ca A Ted Bit A 'tonic' to relight that Christmas glimmer TED BROWN 'Maybe we should concentrate more on gifts of the heart...'