The New York Optimist
December 2008
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM THE  NEW YORK OPTIMIST
By Neil Patrick Parent














“These are the times that try men’s souls.” So wrote Thomas Paine in another time and a different context. Charles Dickens wrote. “it was the best of
times, it was the worst of times.” We here at the New York Optimist are, well, optimistic, so we prefer the Dickens quote. But there can be no denying that
times are hard. The current economic crisis has visited virtually all of us with varying degrees of misfortune, and it gives every indication of getting worse.
The Great Depression lasted over ten years and it took a horrific World War to end it. However, we have reason to hope that governments, financial
institutions and industry went to school on that phenomenon and the lessons learned, the tools developed, will prevent it from repeating. (Christina Romer,
Obama’s pick to head the Council of Economic Advisors  is one of the foremost authorities on the Great Depression.) We have a brilliant new president
taking the reins who is particularly attuned to the effects of his decisions on the lives of ordinary people. I don’t know what the average person thought and
felt, at Christmastime in 1929, about their prospects for the future. That they could imagine the depth and persistence of the downturn that loomed ahead of
them. But at that time of year, when by tradition we all look inward at how we look outward, how we treat and feel our fellow man, when we tap the
inherent generosity of our spirits, they must, even in the most hard hit households, have expressed the capacity for love that we have for each other. This is
a time of year, in a time of our lives, that requires special emphasis on those qualities. It is a time to think and act on those basic impulses to help and reflect
on the good, warm feelings that reward us in the act of giving. And I’m not talking about shiny wrapped presents under the tree. It is especially important
this time, this year, that we give of our spirits and our resources, material and emotional. Don’t ever undervalue one of the cheapest of all gifts, a simple
hug.  Acts of kindness and friendship have tremendously beneficial effects to givers as well as  receivers. They imbue us with the strength to face the worst
of times in the knowledge that we are not alone. Whether anonymous or identified, direct or indirect, giving is of more than practical importance. It enriches
the spirit and makes us more effective, individually and as a society in all the things that we do. I’m not urging you to give out of a sense of obligation, but
as a pure self indulgence, a way to make you feel good that will last longer than that Christmas party cocktail. Institutions exist to help the least fortunate,
and giving money to them is a wonderful thing to do, but if you really want to get the best high from this, go yourself to a soup kitchen or deliver a turkey in
person to a family in need. No time? Take that dollar out of your pocket for the subway a capella  Doo Wop group.  And as we enter the coming New Year,
with tightened belts and forebodings of more bad news, try to be of good cheer. If you know some one who has been badly affected, whether they lost
every penny of the hundred million they had invested with Bernie Madoff, or were just laid off from their job as a sales clerk at Barnes & Noble, reach out
and give them something, even if it’s only a hug. To reference another Dickens quote, resolve to live up to the words he put in the mouth of  Ebenezer
Scrooge, “ I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”     





Neil Patrick Parent, Esq.
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