In the US alone, more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent, every year. It is this day that is proclaimed by Facebook as the "least popular" day for breakups, however, it is found that lots of couples break up two weeks before Christmas. In fact this period is the second most common time of the year for couples to split. So it seems like a happy time, right?
I have some more facts for you, sales of mistletoe increase by 45% at Christmas time... so lots of smooching going on, however, next time you go to kiss that special someone under the green twig, think about this. The word mistletoe comes from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings - lovely, the bird poo plant! Sounds romantic, right?
Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were, therefore, doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved, however, when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their stockings with gold coins - Hmm Sounds very festive, right?
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are 2,106 million children under age 18 in the world. If there are on average 2.5 children per household, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 second, which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles (20.5 billion meters) per second on each stop. The force of this acceleration would reduce Santa to “chunky salsa.” - Sounds viable, right?
Some people want to escape from Christmas, but this Christmas fact shows us that Christmas is almost inescapable as carols have even been sung up in space. The first song to be sung in space was Jingle Bells. Two astronauts back in 1965 reported seeing a UFO. They then claimed that the UFO had one main command module and eight smaller modules in front and that the pilot was wearing a red suit. The mischievous pair then went on to sing Jingle Bells to NASA - inescapable?! Sounds like a thrill, right?
I am by no means a scrooge, in fact, I love Christmas! These are just some of the shocking facts I found while scouring through the internet on the laptop I received for Christmas... Despite this, I do believe that this festive holiday has been destroyed in a lot of ways, and in some cases, has lost its true meaning. It has become an over commercialised event, all retailers have jumped on the media bandwagon!
"Christmas is the season of giving" true... but how many times have you been undermined by retailers by this phrase... engraining it into your head that you have to spend your life savings in order to make someone happy. Happiness certainly does not come from materialistic things, such as (as much as I love it) Apple products or any of the other popular items that we on the wish list this Christmas season, or any other Christmas season for that matter.
For me, Christmas means, spending time with your family, seeing relatives you didn't know existed, and seeing people that your busy schedule doesn't allow for you to see. Its a time to take a break (as much as CCEA exams would tell you otherwise!) from your life and focus on the things that our vitally important - showing love, spending time with people who are important to you, showing caring thought.
So as this Christmas Day draws to a close, reflect on how you have spent your day, and how you want to spend your next few days, and perhaps your next Christmas!
So have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year!
Best Wishes
Vicky
xx
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