Christmas is upon us! We sang Christmas songs in church last Sunday. It was great, but I still have trouble with getting the syllables right when singing “The First Noel.” It’s not one syllable: “looked.” It’s two syllables: “look-ed”

Oh well, that just one of my Christmas bug-a-boos. Regardless, I enjoy this time of year. Most people seem to be a little nicer than usual.

The Christmas season motivates good behavior in many people. Sanpeters are good “Christmas Spirit” folks.

The spirit of love, peace and good will is turned up a notch by many who don’t consciously think much about it other times of the year. I admit that it’s hard work being extra nice for a whole year; but many of us can handle it for a week or two or three in December.

There’s nothing wrong with using a holiday to spur us on to better behavior. It makes the effort easier. Christmas is the mother of all holidays for this purpose. Christian ideals are brought to the forefront. We try to remember Jesus and what his teachings should mean to us. We try to be givers.

The concept of Christmas gives us a logical place to “blame” our unusual good behavior right now. Christmas justifies our kindness. Some of us don’t want people to get the idea that we are to be held to such high standards of niceness all year round. Here’s what I mean.

A Christmas wish and good deed might go something like this: “Hi neighbor. I haven’t seen you for a while. Seeing how it’s Christmas and all, I thought I’d give you this little smoked turkey I found in my freezer. Happy Holidays!”

See how this works? The underlying message is that if it weren’t for the holiday, I wouldn’t be so nice. Shucks, Christmas made me do it.

There’s still plenty of time for all of us to make the decision to be nice this Christmas season. There’s time to do something extra, beyond what we’d normally do. We need more random acts of Christmas giving.

Some people do the “twelve days of Christmas” for someone (some sort of anonymous (or not) gift every day for 12 days). I think some sort of “six-pack of Christmas” in some way or another for someone would be easier. (And I don’t mean giving away a six-pack of a beverage. Actually on second thought, that’s not that bad of an idea.)

The Sub-for-Santa programs and Angel Trees always need help. Your church leaders may know of someone for whom you could quietly provide some Christmas joy. In a place like Sanpete there’s no reason for anyone to be “without” on Christmas.

In all the “doing unto others” and being nice this time of year, don’t forget to be nice to yourself. Sometimes we turn this season into such a pressurized hustle and bustle time that we nearly put ourselves into the hospital or the loony bin. We have to realize that we can’t do everything for everyone.

Some of us go a little crazy and think that because it’s Christmas time we suddenly have super human powers. Some women I know attempt to dip thirty pounds of chocolates, make twenty batches of cookies, and crochet ten afghans in the days leading up to Christmas.

I’m not sure what the male equivalent of that is. It could be the high stress of watching 30 football games, the edgy tension of watching 20 basketball games and, of course, the colossal effort of taking 10 minutes to get the 10 boxes of Christmas stuff out of the attic so the wife can decorate the house.

All I’m saying is that we don’t need to put unreasonable demands on ourselves to feel good about Christmas. I’m going to try to have a little better balance in my Christmas season this year.

As I say this, I’m wondering how I’m actually going to follow through with all this “niceness” and giving. I really do want to be nice and be a giver of Christmas cheer. But, I’m already putting demands on myself.

My wife has been making caramels. I’ve been fantasizing (perhaps unrealistically) about making divinity and fudge.

And, of course, there really is the pressure of lots of ball games that I feel an obligation to watch on TV. (Yay! – for Utah, BYU and USU – all headed to football bowl games.) I admit, I’m a little bit stressed as I think about getting through this month.

Pardon me. I need a moment for a little “time out” for some therapy and self-talk: Deep Breaths — Everything will be fine. Deep Breaths. You can do it Merrill!) — Merrill

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