It’s December! Or if you came here after December, then it once was December and pretend that it is December! 🙂

Now that the annoying holiday of Thanksgiving is well past us, we can guilt-free continue to decorate our Christmas tree, listen to Christmas songs, ignore December birthdays, and get into the holiday spirit. Outside of Thanksgiving, which is one day of gorging, Christmastime marks the beginning of winter break for schools and colleges and a transition into the next calendar year. It’s also a time for reflection or for taking stock of what was done last year as well as setting new goals (for some) for the coming calendar year.

It’s this time of year, that friends and family are often together in the same local region where everyone once grew up. And it’s this time of year where we rejoice in getting to see that close friend or beloved family member this one time.

Countdown To The New Year

We count down to Christmas. We count down the seconds to the new year, toast, kiss, and ring in a new beginning.

But there are other countdowns that we don’t do. That seemingly happy moment of seeing our closest friends once a year. Have we ever counted down to how many more times we’ll have? When we see our parents once a year. What does that mean?

Do it. Count down. Here’s how.

Let’s say you’re 30. Let’s say your parents are 60. Odds are, you’ll outlive your parents, if you haven’t already :(. How long will they be around for? Another 20 years? This seems like a long time, but if you see them once a year, then, well, you’ll see them 20 more times. You will see your coworkers more in one month than you will your parents in 20 years.

But I’ve already seen my parents almost every day for the first 18 years of my life! Ah, but of course you have. They, however, see their mortality differently than you. They feel the countdown and you’ll feel it in 15 years when you see that you have only 5 or 6 more meetings with them. Then it will be what we do with exams. Cram time.

What of your friends? 50 more times? We can surely count that high and surely count down from there. Fifty more times is three months of coworker time.

We don’t have to be 50 or 60 or 70 to finally figure out the math. We all remember our college days, our early twenties, etc. (or if we haven’t reached that level yet, then we remember our high school days, our teenage years, etc.).

When we ask our students to count backwards or count up as they learn their numbers, maybe we can pause and think about our once-a-year gatherings. Maybe once-a-month is better, even if it is for a quick brunch or one late night drink at the bar.