Every year when Christmas time rolls around, everyone gets excited. The thought of Santa, presents, Christmas cookies and finding the perfect gift makes people ecstatic about the nearing Christmas Day. However, people nowadays are forgetting the real joy of Christmas—spending time with family, giving back to those in need and most importantly, the birth of Jesus. This begs the question: are people focusing more on the getting than the giving?

When Jesus Christ was born some 2000 years ago, he blessed everyone with his life and his lessons of giving back and treating your neighbors as yourself. Christmas is a time to focus on that giving back. Christmas is an opportunity to prepare food for the homeless, buy a toy for a little boy or girl who will not get one otherwise and spend some time with your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Today, people seem more intent on getting a gift and decorating Christmas trees. These are wonderful traditions that should not stop, but when so many people focus on the material things, the act of getting overpasses the act of giving. Think of the joy you could bring to a child by buying them a toy they would not get otherwise. Think of the happiness brought to those who eat at a food pantry on Christmas because you took time out of your life to make something to contribute. Instead of focusing on the getting, focus on the giving. It will allow for more people to be content on this very special day. Christmas was never intended to be an affair of presents and cookies. Society made it into the shopping extravaganza that many people see it as today. Everyone gets so caught up in finding the perfect gift and getting the Christmas dinner shopping done that they forget that Christmas is a time to step back from your life and count your blessings. Christmas is about those you love and those you want to spend time with. So, when the all the leaves fall from the trees and snow coats the ground, people must remember to stop, appreciate what they have and give back to those who do not have as many blessings as they do.