Dear friends, it\u2019s time for me to bring you my Christmas message. Pour yourself a glass of gluhwein, even if it is early morning, wrap your dressing gown tightly around you and I\u2019ll begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christmas is an important time to reflect. The original Christmas story is one of joy and hope for the world. It brings together humans and animals shoulder to shoulder in celebration. It wasn\u2019t the innkeeper who opened his home to the weary travellers, it was the ox and ass. They shared what they had with those in need. The shepherds could only pay their homage because their dogs stayed behind to mind the sheep. The kings could only take their gifts because their camels carried them to the stable. We are equals on this journey and can help each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, many of you will be spending the day apart from your families due to the current difficulties of Covid. You don\u2019t need to be lonely. Find animals and birds to share your day with. You will very often get better conversation out of an animal than a drunken relative. If you don\u2019t have any animals in your home then go for a walk and feed the birds. Find a duck pond, or a park and sit a while with whichever birds and animals pass that way. We are all on this journey together and need to show each other kindness as we travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t say \u2018poor me\u2019 because you couldn\u2019t do what your wanted to do. Instead say \u2018lucky me\u2019 for the things you have around you to appreciate. Count your blessings not your troubles and you will be the happier for it. Take time to reflect on the happiest moments from Christmases past. Look forward with hope to Christmases yet to come, but don\u2019t forget to be more like the animals you meet and be present in the moment of today. Enjoy the little things. Wonder at the cosiness of the duvet, the taste of the things you are fortunate enough to eat, the sound of the falling rain. Stay hopeful that the coming year will be a better one but enjoy the day you have in front of you as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Love<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilma<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wilma brings her Christmas message to animals and humans alike. Join her for a reflection on this Christmas Day. <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,5],"tags":[123],"class_list":["post-24929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-wisdom-and-experience","tag-christmas","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiesdiary.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}