With Thanksgiving now in the rear view mirror, it is now officially Christmas time. There is Christmas music playing in stores, festive ornaments hanging on trees, and eggnog sitting in fridges. The holly jolly spirit of Christmas is everywhere and anywhere, and it is impossible to escape from it.

Alongside the Christmas spirit comes the overwhelming shopping rush. Walk into any retail store between now and Christmas, and you will be fighting a crowd to get to what you need. For retail, this time of the year is great. Additionally, many stores have to hire seasonal employees just handle the larger-than-normal crowds. The influx of customers boosts sales and profits. The term “Black Friday” is attached to the shopping mayhem the day after Thanksgiving because it is the day in which retail stores write their sales in black ink (made profit) instead of red ink (below profit). For the most well-known capitalistic country in the world, these times are great. The economical boosts created by these times financially benefits many business owners and workers in our country.

But as we see the financial gains of Christmas, let us not forget what is truly important in all this. It is so easy to get caught up in the materialistic side of things. With all the gifts being bought, we can easily get trapped into believing that we need to receive gifts in order to have happiness. We do not need gifts to be happy, but instead we need to show each other some love. Yes, we can show each other love by giving gifts, but there are easier and better ways. By sitting down and spending time conversing and laughing with our loved ones, we can create memories and feelings of joy that will last a lifetime. The gifts we give each other are great, but they will at some point in time be forgotten. Meanwhile, the memories we share will never go away.

As we get closer to Christmas, let’s enjoy the food, gifts, and spirit it has to offer. But let us also remember our loved ones and spend quality time with them. They are what truly makes this time of the year special.