Holidays: On the Protected List

We all know the routine.  Get up, get ready for the day, drive to work, work all day/night, drive home, relax for a few hours and go to bed.  Only to get up and repeat the process the next day and the day after.  Pretty soon, without much more to break up our lives, it can become fairly monotonous.  That's why we have holidays throughout the year.  I realize that every holiday is to recognize either an important day in history or honor a specific group in society.  We all know we simply look forward to the day off.

But what about those people who don't have the luxury of a holiday?  Maybe these people work in the service industry (food, emergency, military, etc) to where they have to be at work so you can enjoy your holiday without much stress.  While the Blue Laws of old use to protect at least Sunday for all, these have gone by the wayside, sacrificed for our thirst to always have access to stores and restaurants, regardless of what those workers sacrifice for us.

Maybe the people work multiple jobs and while one might not be open, the other might have them scheduled?  Or they may work nights?  I remember I worked nights at one job into the holiday season and came home on Thanksgiving Day at 7 AM, having worked since 10 PM the previous night.  I have worked several hours into a holiday, whereas most people had gone to bed knowing their holiday had already started.  That year, I understood what someone who worked and lived their life this way all the time goes through.  I woke up around noon that day, in a daze and trying to get into the festivities quickly.

What if you heard that you may not get any holidays at all or very few holidays?  You are given time off to use but may not use it at your complete leisure due to the confines of what you work on.  As our society continues to propel itself further and further into the future, this may become a reality.  We are driven to higher productivity levels which more less time available for ourselves and more hours to log at work.  Our families are already sensing the strain from these pressures and we see this reflected in our divorce rates and the different lifestyles that have been adopted within the confines of a marriage.

You have the power of time in your hands.

How can we fix this?  We need to take time and focus on our families.  When we come home, finish any remaining work you have with expedience and take time to enjoy your family and your life.  This can be as simple as going out to dinner or enjoying a home cooked meal around a table together.  Sitting with your family, cuddled on the couch watching a movie or television.  Remember that our holidays can be taken away, government can change and life can shift dramatically.  But as long as we can cling to our families and all those morals within, that is one thing that cannot be lost, even with the onslaught of death.  Death cannot severe what is eternal.