Waiting for December

If I was in charge of calendars, every month would be a December.Everybody's caught up in the January wave. Christmas decor are coming off our walls and doors. Families are saying goodbyes to families. Lovers are travelling home and away from home. Even stores are removing their discount posters.Its as though a painter carefully brushed over a bright yellow with a dull grey after twelve midnight when all the fireworks went up. As if to say "Alright. We lit the trees and gave out the gifts. But now let's be a little less merry. Fireworks were meant for December. January's here and the storm's not over".But the storms were never over in December. Only we were a little more intentional about keeping our feet planted in the waves without drowning. There was still debt to be paid and work to be done. We still had loved ones breathing through tubes and our backs were still bent with the load of sad stories we were too afraid to share. In December, we still had storms. But there's this seemingly universal draw towards goodness in the last month of the year that I admire. For a split second, I could almost bet no one was having a storm. Because suddenly, everybody becomes Santa Claus. We tend to love more. Give more. Laugh more. We literally start living. We remember to eat well. We take time off to rest. We sign well wishing cards for people we love. We visit people we love. We call people we love.All the love in December alone can heal the world in 365 days.When Christmas comes, it rushes in like a flood- washing away every debris of pain or fear in us.And then when the season slowly fades, we go back to the shore to pick up the pieces.We always go back for the pieces.But why do we choose the pieces for February or June?What's so wrong with August? How bad do these storms get after December?So bad that we become intentional in drowning? Its as though we crawl into January with our flashlights turned off.As though we're afraid that a little more light, a little more merry, and our new year resolutions would go down the drain.So we bury ourselves in work. And coffee. And meetings. And deadlines. The phone calls stop. We forget to live again.And we never stop to think if we are losing out on something.After all, its after December.Ah but let's not stack happiness and life in the box along with all the cheap glitter and wall hangings.We cannot afford to be defined by seasons and times. We are worth happiness in March and sleep in April. We shouldn't  wait for another December, another Christmas light, another firework to fill our souls with joy and calm.The stars will still shine when we don't put on our best garments.2016 will still be graceful if the calendars come without a December. It will be a love story that we can't put down. It will be a battle ground with chariots and horses. Sometimes we may win. Other times, we may lose.Whatever 2016 will mean to you, I hope it makes you shine in love within yourself and among the people you're surrounded by.The kind of love that doesn't come wrapped in gift boxes and midnight kisses.The simple and unintentional love that slow dances in girlfriend nights and homemade pancakes, cute love letters and 2:00AM calls.Because this kind of love does not wait for December and Christmas lights to breath. This kind of love bleeds into ordinary Mondays and lonely Sunday nights. Because when its not December and all the conventional goodness is lost, this is the only love that keeps our heads above the waters.