This past weekend, I watched several Christmas movies with my children, and they got me thinking. All of them, religious or not, held a theme of hope, joy, peace, and love during the holidays. It portrays the longing of characters, the struggles they encounter during the season, and the transformation they experience when they open up their hearts. Each one highlighted what we all truly need and want as humans. The message is clear: to hope, to wonder, to see someone else smile, to feel appreciated, to forgive, to be around those that matter most, the list goes on. But to sum it all up, the message is a resounding call “to love and be loved”.

What an incredible message each one had. I can relate them to myself this year more than years past. I had a certain longing for the season earlier than I usually do. I put my lights up 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. Normally, I barely get them up by the 20th of December. But this year, my family, like many others, needed to feel the gifts of Christmas, and we could not wait for it.

Then, on the 25th, someone close to me said, “You know? The sad part about the 25th is that tomorrow is the 26th, and Christmas is over.” Then, I was struck. Why do we think of it this way? Does that mean that just because the holiday music stops playing on the radio and the retail stores stop the holiday sales, we can’t thrive in joy, promote peace, and feel love?

Is this season just really a calendar event? Should our view on life be tied to seasonal events or arrival and departure dates? Should our attitude be tied to the value of the gifts we got? The answer should be absolutely not!

Instead, Christmas should be a simple reminder to “continue” being what we are called to be. We should use this season to recharge our souls, our hearts with all the good stuff. We should use it as a start over to really keep us grounded in what we ultimately need as humans.

We should not stop on the 26th. Now especially, we need to build on this. IT’S NOT OVER. On the contrary, it’s just the beginning. Let’s go out there and continue to promote hope & peace. Let’s continue to wonder like children, enjoy the gift of today and leave the worry in the past. Let’s forgive with no regrets. Let’s end the judgements that are building walls between us. Instead, let’s paint the world with kindness and compassion. Let’s erupt in joy and courage to believe that we can bring about the change we need and truly rebuild this amazing world we live in. I know we can!

With all my love,

Luciano Ciorciari, Founder/CEO and the entire Food Related Family