Christmas Comes Early

  Sometimes serendipity just presents itself. Earlier this year I had an article published by High Spirit magazine. It was a good feeling to see myself in a magazine and see my story in print. It was about my journey into Reiki. 

  At the time I submitted two other articles and heard nothing back about them being published. However, recently I received contact from the magazine and they want to publish one of the other articles that I wrote. They had kept it in their archives, unbeknown to me.

  The article that I wrote involved an incident on a trampoline with my nephew, Connor. It happened over a year ago and had looked like he was seriously injured - and then something happened that was quite out of the ordinary, which confirmed the power of the human mind for me - and him. The incident demonstrated that in crisis situations we are all capable of finding resources that we never knew we had.

  I hadn't realised just how excited Connor would be when he found out that he would be appearing in the magazine's February edition. For some people their 15 minutes comes early! As did Christmas for the young lad.

Resource management, magic, beards and cookies

  Sometimes it is easy to ignore the opportunities or magic that stare one in the face. This week, on my Santa, leaflet-delivery campaign around the neighbourhood I dressed up as Santa, once again, and prepared to go out. Having just broken up from school my nephew, Connor, decided that he wanted to go out with me - and he wanted to dress as Santa as well.

  This led to a trip into Borehamwood to see what we could find. On a pre-Christmas market day it was pretty busy. All of the main stores had no more Santa suits of any description. We had all but given up as we walked down the high street and back towards the car.

  I then noticed a shop that was closing down. They had minimal stock and I couldn't see any immediately obvious Santa suits. However, tucked in the corner were the final 3 junior costumes. Junior Santa was unleashed in that moment.

  I took Connor to pass out some leaflets with me. It was something that he took to like a duck to water. His genuine excitement at meeting new people was a refreshing angle on how to approach door-to-door encounters.

  After a tentative start on the first few houses he soon fell into his flow. He handed my flyers to all that answered the door, connecting with everyone. I have no doubt that he added leverage to my message and he made the process much more fun than it already was for me. Watching him connect with small children, who just looked on in amazement, was a magical experience. 

  Cars and even buses beeping and people waving as we walked down the road brought about a bit more magic. 

  One funny event was being spotted by a group of Connor's friends, claiming that I was not the real Santa. As we walked down the road I was pursued by this group of 5-6 year-olds claiming that I couldn't be real because my beard wasn't real and I wasn't fat enough. They advised me that I needed to eat a lot more cookies to achieve the weight that would make me look more real. 

  I'm not sure that the cookie, crash weight-gain advice will be enough to give me sufficient authenticity between now and Christmas. However, I will know to model the cookie monster next year and start growing a beard now if I'm ever going to convince the more shrewd members of the community of my seasonal status.

  As for Connor - all he wants to know is when we can go out and deliver more leaflets. A better intervention for a new business has surely yet to be discovered.

Another Day in the Life of an Icon

  Being an individual who likes to walk and bring a smile or two to the faces of those around me, I'm always looking to do so. As I have a local event starting off in my home village of Shenley, in Hertfordshire, I decided to deliver a few flyers and let a few people know what I'm doing - dressed as Santa.

  Having never done any door to door deliveries since a paper round when I was 10, this was always going to be an interesting affair. Since over half of the houses that I went to were empty it was a bit of a lottery. 

  Some mothers were in, with their small children, and that provided plenty of smiles all around. I also received a few worried looks - after all, I'm sure that it's not every day that Santa turns up on their doorstep telling them about a wellbeing event at the local village hall. It was particularly ironic for those houses with the "Santa, please stop here" signs planted outside numerous front doors - be careful what you ask for!

  For the most part I received very friendly responses and had some great chats. Of course, one group of teenage chaps were not so reciprocal as I wished them a merry Christmas, responding with "Santa - you w****r!" Even this brought a smile to my face as the ghost of Christmas past came back to visit - I was no angel as a teenager either!

  Everyone else who I came across walking gave me a warm smile and drivers would beep horns and wave at me as the passed by. So, all-in-all it was a wonderful day out. I've connected with the local community in a way that it hadn't dawned on me to do before, I've spread a bit of Christmas cheer and I've let a few people know what I do. 

  It's been a simple lesson in the power of Santa, connecting, walking and staying positive - for it's always the most potentially negative experiences that result in the funniest tales. Just ask any Fawlty Towers fan.

Santa's Advocate

  It has become very apparent that the mention of Christmas will instantly get a reaction from all individuals - as it always has. Say it anywhere near your average child and their face will light up in excitement and magical expectation. Say it to an average adult and the responses vary from childlike excitement (not too common in my experience) to total loathing.

  The varied anti-Christmas lobby will tell you about how it is over-commercialised, stressful, unnecessary, over-hyped, a pain in the **** - amongst other things. These are the same people who used to love Christmas as children. However, with age comes cynicism for many people. As life deals out it's seemingly harsh realities the ability to experience magic gets lost along the way.

  As a Coach and Health Consultant it is often my job to play Devil's advocate as people present the issues that they feel are causing them stress. In a similar role at this time of year I like to become Santa's advocate and add a differing view to those who feel compelled to let me know how bad they feel Christmas is. I may not change minds en-mass but I do frequently bring a smile to the face of a cynical adult.

  For me there will always be magic around Christmas. For those who believe that there isn't - there will always be plenty of people who will reinforce this view if they are looking for confirmation. For those who do believe in the magic of Christmas - well done. Given the choice of which category of person that I'd like to meet - it's a no contest. 

  Thanks Santa - once again, Christmas has come early.

Festive Fun

Every year, in December I bring out my Santa suit. This has been a time-honoured tradition since my student nurse days. I used to like wearing it on the wards and when I went out for Christmas parties.

What I have found is that you can give people a gift by bringing a smile to their face. It worked well for those who were hospitalised around the festive period and for those who were working. Seeing people smile and aim their festive comments my way also made me feel good.

Last night I went to a very dear friend's house for our annual Christmas party. Apart from sparking up some very funny conversations about who was getting what for Christmas and meeting a host of wonderful friends - I also went out to the shop.

In the few hundred yards that I walked down the road I passed a father with his young lad. "Wow, it's Santa! Look dad. Hello Santa," shouted the smiling young man. "Hello," I smiled and waved as the excitement on his face brought a smile to mine.

In the shop I only had to walk in to bring a smile to the shop-keeper's face and the chap being served. They laughed and so did I. I immediately started feeling good and beaming a smile.

Smiling is good for you. It causes the release of seratonin (the body's natural, feel-good stimulant). It's free, it's fun and it's Christmas (almost).

I will be bringing out my Santa suit next week and having some more of the same.

For anyone who is looking to feel better I would highly recommend the donning of a Santa suit and a walk down the road. I challenge anyone to give it a go and not feel better as a result. It's one of the best investments I've ever made.

May you all have a very Happy Christmas.