Brain Food #542
The strength of the spirit
Thoughts of the day
Dear friends,
Brain Food is taking a break for the holidays, and will be back in 2021. It is always difficult to find a theme for a singular post to close the year, especially one that everyone is so eager to forget.
Yet, there is another event that still invites us to be hopeful, its symbolism amplified, even for the non-religious, by the very fact that its date is so close to the end of one year, and the beginning of another. And thus it feels natural to turn to the quintessential Christmas story, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, written in 1843, and still feeling as relevant today as it did at its time of publication.
Beyond popularising the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ among its readers, the tale taught the immense value of having a good heart, a positive spirit, and goodwill during times of adversity.
“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
There is so much we can overcome, and so much more we can achieve, than we believe. Even more so, if we choose not to go through this world alone, and to generously share our good qualities with others.
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