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December 9, 2021

Happy Holidays 2021

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~ Albert Einstein

In our clinic, we have been blessed to see your miracles every day. Thank you for allowing us to walk a few moments with you on your life’s journey. This month, while so many on the planet celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah (the Festival of Lights) and so many more celebrate the Christmas miracle, remember to see the miracles in your life and acknowledge your blessings every day.

Did you know that the word Hanukkah means dedication? How dedicated are you to taking care of yourself? Someone once said you need to take care of your body since it’s the only one you have. Ignore your health, and it will go away. I know how stressful life can be. But stress creates dis-ease and sickness. Sometimes it feels as if we’re being buffeted in a horrible storm. You can’t calm a storm, but you can calm yourself—the storm will pass. We are told that the habits of our lifestyle are seeded when we’re young by our parents and those who raised us. Sometimes we learn poor habits. But we are all smart enough to learn and practice new ones.

Another of my favorite Einstein quotes is, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” We are not stupid, so let’s dedicate ourselves to living a grateful, happy, and healthy life. And how do we do that? Accept what is, let go of what was, be mindful of yourself and others, feel grateful for the blessings in your life, pray, and have faith in what will be.

And that brings me to a touching tale I posted 10 years ago. We need to heed its lessons considering the stresses of the pandemic, the political polarity in our country, and the angry blame game that seems to have become as important as breathing for so many Americans.

Our story begins with an extremely poor family whose father worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his daughter and him. You see, the little girl’s mother had passed away a few years earlier. Her death left this father a bitter man and he faced many challenges raising his daughter. One particular year a few days before Christmas, the father punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate just one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy!”

As he took the box from his little girl’s hands, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty, and again his anger flared. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full.”

Her father was crushed. He fell on his knees with tears in his eyes and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger. This was the best Christmas present he could have ever asked for.

A few months later, tragedy struck, and the little girl died of pneumonia. Her father kept the little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of his beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends, and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

This holiday season, remember that you too have a golden box of kisses filled with the love of all the angels who have touched your life.

We are all surrounded by angels. I am blessed to work side by side with one of them—my wife, Beverly. Beverly and I both feel blessed and grateful to have the incredible honor of being part of all our patients’ lives. Those of you reading this are also God’s Angels on Earth and you make miracles happen every day. So, take time today, and every day, to thank and bless the living angels in your life. Trust me on this one; you are surrounded by more of them than you realize.

To all our patients, thank you again for allowing us to be part of your lives.

Happy Holidays and blessings to all,

Ian and Beverly Wahl
www.StLouisAllergyRelief.com

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