Contrary to the popular belief that Christmas is better when we were kids, this exhilarating holiday season should be so much more appreciated as we grow up.

We often find ourselves trapped in an uneasy budget with so many family members and friends we now have to buy for. It’s easy for someone to say they don’t want someone to spend money on them, but in the back of their head they are subtly hoping and expecting they do.

But as cliché, as it sounds, buying and receiving gifts, was never the real meaning of Christmas anyway.

When you really think about it, there is so much to feel good about during this time of year. Once the calendar hits December 1, don’t you feel as if your entire aura changes? It’s as if there really is magic in the air.

Ever feel like when you were younger you weren’t wise enough to appreciate things such as vacations, family, or even time, at least in the way you do now? That’s because when we grow up, we become more aware of our surroundings, we come to realize how sometimes the going gets tough and we need to be grateful for what we do have and the people around us. This is what it’s like for Christmas.

As children, we never fully understood any abstract notion of ‘appreciation’ or ‘giving to those less fortunate than ourselves’, we were more so focused and aware on the objects being given to us.

We were also in a ‘seeing is believing’ time frame, such as believing in Santa Claus bringing us toys, rather than feeling the spirit of Christmas all around us, whether it be by seeing the generosity of strangers, story-telling of past Christmases told by our loved ones, even precious reunions where everyone is communicating rather than staring at their phones.

My peers and I spend the first half of December studying and stressing for finals, but we still somehow managed by knowing we go home for break.

No one wants to be stressed out with two final papers, four exams, and loads of extra credits to cram in, but there’s just something about this time of year where staying up Starbucks with your friends stress eating and acting like idiots while blasting Christmas music in your headphones isn’t so bad.

Just how there’s something about being crammed in the middle of NYC to see one tree isn’t so bad because it’s one that brings everyone together and so beautifully lights up an entire city.

It’s just how staying home doing absolutely nothing isn’t so bad, because you know by noon you’ll have the fire on, watching 25 days of Christmas, cozy in your pajamas. And it’s just how having little to nothing but still giving it away isn’t so bad because you would do anything to see someone smile during the holidays.

From putting up ornaments on the tree with your family and realizing how blessed you are, to a long drive home zoning out from all the breathtaking Christmas lights on each house as you pass by, there is so much awareness that growth brings more and more each year leading us to saver moments like these during the holiday season.

The truth is, when we grew up and found out the reality of Santa Clause, it did not destroy the spirit of Christmas, instead it made us resort to finding the spirit of Christmas in a way that was much more powerful; making people feel vigorously alive by sharing gratitude, happiness, and love.