Are you ready for Christmas? Are you staying at home or are you planning to visit your loved ones?

These are some of the questions that we will be hearing a lot these days. There is a rush to buy, cook and make sure that the “Christmas experience” is close to being “perfect”.

Whether we like it or not, it is almost impossible to avoid all the madness around the festive season. I often wonder whether we have lost our ability to recognise that Christmas can give us all a lot more than only a new toy, phone or a fancy gift.

For me personally, Christmas has two important meanings. First of all, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the elapsing year. It has been challenging, hasn’t it?

Here at home, we’ve had constant “political drama”, ongoing financial challenges and high inflation. The situation abroad isn’t unfortunately better. There is war, various global conflicts, climate or a refugee crisis.

From the human perspective, it is not easy to remain positive and optimistic, isn’t it? We have all experienced a “poverty of trust” and it often feels like that the hope and belief for a better tomorrow is fading away.

Having said that, maybe there are ways in which we can make the festive season truly “magical”. Is this a good moment to look around and notice people who are still less fortunate than us?

Is this a perfect time to pick up the phone and ring a friend, member of the family, someone we have not spoken with for a while? Is it also a good moment to simply knock on our neighbour's door to say 'hi', and check if they are ok?

What if we tried this Christmas to give our time and ourselves to people around us? What if we tried to switch off, simply be in the present moment and “park” for a day or two our phone and stop scrolling through our social media platforms?

Watching a family movie or going for a walk might have a positive impact on building healthy relationships with people around us. Moreover, it will also help us to improve our wellbeing, so often neglected by our busy lifestyles.

As a councillor, I often get criticised for “stuff”. In actual fact, we all do get a lot of stick for things we say or we do. It is so easy these days to post a comment online and have a go at someone.

We often think that we are “better connected”, however I wonder whether we actually are. Nothing, even the best phone, will ever replace a real interpersonal interaction.

Maybe the Christmas period can give us a good opportunity to praise a friend, our child or a member of the family? Maybe, the festive season is an excellent period to repair and enhance our relationships?

Maybe, as we are approaching the New Year, could we try to be less judgmental and more understanding towards the others?

It might sound trivial and cliché, however I know that this Christmas, I want to renew my commitment to “utilising” every opportunity to make a difference.

I genuinely believe that every selfless act of even smallest generosity can help us to build a better tomorrow and inspire others to become “beacons of hope”.

It is what the world needs today, isn’t it? The Christmas message is teaching us to be less materialistic, self-centred and cherish the things which truly matter; our relationships.

Happy Christmas!