Poverty and Christmas(6)

   Christmas is pretty contradictory when you actually take time to think about it. The "meaning of Christmas" is an idea that gets tossed around a lot, whether its from your relative or the TV trying to sell you something. And since it's so ambiguous to me, I really don't attempt to act like I know the right definition of what Christmas should be. It's easy to get caught up in the commotion and endup dissatisfied  with the entire holiday spirit idea. It happens to me pretty much every year. Until one specific thing reminds me of what I think, in my opinion, Christmas should be about. Through my mom I end up helping out at the Riverhead Toys for Tots drive every year, and even though I really don't do much, it reminds me of something I wish I stuck to more often.
   If you don't know, Toys for Tots is a charity drive that does exactly what it sounds like, giving presents from Santa to children who probably wouldn't get any otherwise. They don't always get what they want obviously, usually it goes by age group and you get what you get, but that being said I've never seen a single kid noticeably upset over their gift. Every single child and parent lights up at this event, it's hard to explain. There's just something so genuine in it all. And as played out a message as it is,  we need to learn from things like this. We all  get so wrapped up in  our definitions of Christmas , we take the purity out of it. It should be a time for simple, unadulterated happiness. The kind that really only happens when you're a kid, but still, happiness. That doesn't mean just our own, it also means going the extra mile for anyone we can. We're talking about poverty and charity in class so obviously this has probably been on everyones mind.  The holidays are a good excuse for us to go out of our way a little more than we normally would. So, with this much poverty on the island, it's easy for us to reach out. It's not easy for everyone to enjoy the holidays like we do.  Christmas is an increasingly commercial holiday, and an increasingly complicated one,but the "meaning" should be anything but. For now it should be simple, just help everyone have a  good day.  That should be universal