So Now This is Christmas … What Have You Done?

On December 18, 2009, in storytelling, by Steve Kayser

So fast.

Another year past.

2009 gone.

2010 soon upon.

Questions

How did you do? What did you do?

What did you do that really mattered?

Have you even thought about it that way? Or …

Were You Just Too Busy?

Have you considered how precious and fleeting each moment is? How each breath extending our existence is an amazing blessing on this blue-green magical orb called earth?

An earth that travels through space at over 1,000 miles per hour and moves around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour?

Too Much to Do

Or did you have too much to do to wonder at that?

I did.

Have you considered that if the expansion rate of the universe was changed by one part in a trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion, faster or slower, life on earth would not exist?

Too Many E-mails

Or did you have too many e-mails to think about that?

My inbox was pretty much always full.

A Really Big Inch

Did you know that if a measuring tape were stretched across the universe and segmented in one-inch increments (billions upon indescribable gazillions of inches) representing the force strengths of nature (gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong nuclear forces) and the tape was moved by just one inch in either direction, life on earth would not exist?

Too Many Meaningless Meetings

Or were you too busy to think about that because you had to prepare for another meaningless meeting?

Too busy here – too many meetings.

Do You Know?

Do you know what would happen if the cosmological constant (the energy density of space) was not tuned to one-part in a hundred million billion billion billion billion billion (10 followed by 120 zeroes)?

Life on earth would not exist.

Too Many Petty Wars

Or were you too embroiled in petty internecine political turf wars, in business and life, to consider that?

I was too embroiled.

A Light Year

is about 5,878,625,373,183.61 miles.

A Long Minute

Globally, 21 children die every minute from poverty.

And, “they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.” - Unicef

So Now This Is Christmas

So fast.

Another year past.

What Have You Done?

2009 gone.

2010 soon upon.

John Lennon wrote a song about this 38 years ago called “So This Is Christmas.” The lyrics were both timely and timeless.

Timely

They were turbulent times. Times much like today. Differing only in the increased speed, ferocity and utter destructiveness with which things can happen.

Timeless

The lyrics transcend time. Race. Creed. Sex. Religion. Age. Not many do. The words are a calling to stop, reflect, consider, act, and hope … hope for a better future.

2010, the road ahead, beckons

Many will come.

Many will go.

Best wishes.

Lyrics , audio and video below.

And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

So this is Christmas
A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let’s stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun

And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now
War is over now

Thanks for being a reader in 2009

And best of luck to you and yours in 2010.

- Steve Kayser

Steve Kayser is a seasoned Media Relations Director and an award-winning business writer. His unique (some say bizarre) approach to PR, Marketing and Media Relations has been documented in a marketing best practices case study by MarketingSherpa, profiled as a “Purple Cow,” by author Seth Godin, and featured in the best-selling books, The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott and "Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs" by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott. Steve has also been featured in the following publications: A Marketer’s Guide to e-Newsletter Publishing, Credibility Branding, Innovation Quarterly, B2B Marketing Trends, PRWEEK, Faces of E-Content, and The Ragan Report. Steve's writings have appeared in Corporate Finance Magazine, CEO Refresher, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business 2.0, and Fast Company Magazine – among many others.. Google+