Tis The Season of ...

I am not sure about you but Christmas is becoming more and more my least favorite time of the year. It has lost its real meaning. You know the whole it is better to give than to receive is barely even talked about anymore. This has become the season in which retailers play mind games with shoppers in efforts to make a profit. We all know that in most retail environments they count on the fourth quarter of the year to get out of the red. This time of the year has become so competitive that now you see stores putting out Christmas decor before Halloween, REALLY! This year when I saw this for myself all I could do is shake my head in disbelief. Is it that serious that we skip right over Halloween and Thanksgiving just so we can move right into Christmas? My answer is a big fat "NO!" In my opinion, Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays, if not the most important. Giving thanks and having gratitude for what you have in life or life itself is way more important. However, how often do you see any of those same retailers giving messages about that? I will wait as you think....(insert Jeopardy theme music here).

Overthinking is one of my flaws but this topic is one I cannot shake. This is because I believe the retailers know that if you actually are thankful and happy with what you have in life then you will not spend money in their store. Their job is to get you spend more of you money, regardless if you can afford it or not. They do this by convincing you, the shopper, that you have to buy this product because it is the latest and greatest ever. This year they moved up Black Friday specials to Thanksgiving night! Are you kidding me? Now it is not enough that we are to skip over the one day that is set aside to just be thankful, now we are supposed to only think about shopping then too. It is a little difficult to do both at the same time. I am easily distracted so maybe this is just me but I doubt it. As I was eating my Thanksgiving dinner we had sales papers going around with people mapping out their strategic Black Friday shopping plan for the next day. Yes, my family has fallen victim to the retailers too.

I will conclude this post by stating that I love to shop just as much as the next person. My main issue here is that I think that people need to be more thankful for what they have already and not go into a frenzy over a sale. Face it, the major retailers do not care about you or your financial situation. They care about if you spend money in their establishment or not, period. If you are not spending money in their store then they are trying to figure out a way to get you to do so. Therefore, please do not let them get in your head by making you spend more than you can afford during this holiday season. It is not that serious people. What is serious is that you surround yourself with people that you love and that love you. That is something that no retailer can put a price tag on because that is priceless.

"Felling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward