Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas to you!  I hope you are at peace and enjoying the holiday with your family and friends.

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I thought I would take the symbolism of today to reflect with you. This year has been turbulent. In addition to any personal hardships you might have had to face, as a nation we faced a presidential election here in America that revealed just how polarized and angry our nation is.  Every day when I logged in to Facebook and Twitter, I saw people fearful, upset, and jaded (myself included). Combine that with the recent Newton tragedy, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Isaac.... and if you aren't an optimist it can be hard to find any good among the sadness.  I will openly admit that my own faith struggled a great deal to comprehend the madness of it all.  I am not the person I once was- with age comes maturity and a more realistic point of view.

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But some things haven't changed. I am still most at peace when I tune out the voices of the world, long enough to hear the still, small voice directed at me.  At my core, I will probably always be an optimist, it's in my DNA.  Both of my parents are optimists who see the good in everything and have taught me to take the lesson from hardship and leave everything else.  I have been surprised to learn there is an incredible amount of freedom in facing one's biggest fears, and walking away whole.

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So I've decided to continue on and keep my focus on all that is beautiful about life.  I hope you will make an effort to do so, too.  Because even if the media doesn't find it interesting enough to highlight, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  You dig?

And in case you need a little help doing so, start by reading this.

Or watching this.  :)

Merry Christmas, friends!  Sending light and love your way.

XOXO, Sam