Not a Creature was Stirring

I recently encountered a small story that indicated a big philosophy. Santa Claus gets a gift from a woman he likes (she's not Mrs. Claus, yet). It's a terrible, cliche, Christmas album. He hates it, but its from a woman he's romantically interested in. She insists its the perfect gift for him. After a moment's thought, he understands why.

First of all, he is initially offended at being given a gift, as he's usually the one that gives gifts. She helps him understand, however, that if he receives the gift gladly, the giver experiences a gift all their own: the joy of giving. He has to humble himself and receive the gift in order to give his love interest a very special gift in return.

Next, the gift isn't what he wanted or needed at all. If he doesn't accept it, the potential joy of giving mentioned above becomes invalidated. Therefore, his choices in life are narrowed to two. His first option is to refuse the gift, making him a colder person and being cruel to the one he loves. If he accepts the gift though, he'll accept what he didn't want or need, but the gift life has left him with. That's the whole point. She wants him to just open his arms and accepts what life brings his way. That is the only choice that makes him a better person. It is also the only choice that puts him in a positive light in her eyes.

The message of this whimsical story affected me deeply. It probably shouldn't have. It was a simple story, it wasn't meant to be exceptionally thought provoking, it just wanted to teach a nice little lesson about life. It sounds silly, I know, but I found the message offensive. The choice is a false choice, any outcome other than one indicates that Santa is less of a person. Are there no other choices?

For example, I've received a lot of gifts from people that I've accepted thankfully, but then passed on. While this risks hurting another's feelings, I will not deny that the gift has been re-gifted. I'll also explain why I accepted the gift but then passed it on: I could not use said gift, it found no place in my life. However, I received the gift of knowing that there is another thinking of me. Furthermore, passing the gift along to another who may be able to use it means that one gift has become two.

Another troubling concept to me was that the best choice in life is to accept what life has to offer with open arms. Life is hard. It's complicated. To simply accept it at face value and not actively pursue your heart's desire leaves one hollow. Even worse, others may use that as an excuse to turn one into a doormat for other people's ambitions and dreams. One needs to respect who they are by fighting for what they desire (assuming what they desire is good). The danger is one can take this line of thinking too far. In so doing, one falls into the trap that this little Santa story is advising people to avoid- the trap of one, "...playing it cool by making his world a little colder."

Santa plays the record and dances with the lady. While he internalizes the lesson of the story, I don't feel like I can. While there are things in life you can't change, recent events in my life seem to be telling me that there are some things too important not to try to change.

-Moonbat