Holidays Around the World: What Can They Teach Us? (Part 1)

Well, it’s almost the end of February, but better late than never, right? Early December and into the beginning of this new year, there were lots of celebrations globally. Different cultures, different people, different traditions, different ideals. Yet, if you dive deeper into some of these holidays or celebrations, we find that regardless of culture or beliefs, there are some similarities and some positive morals and values that are being reinforced.

Regardless of whether you are a child, a parent, a teacher, a big business or something else, we can all agree that life is worth living to best of our abilities. With this thought in mind, today, we will venture into exploring different celebrations across the world and what lessons and values we can adapt or learn from each. By no means will this list be exhausted in this article. For the purpose of time, length and space, we will focus on the following 4 celebrations:

• Chinese New Year
• Hanukkah
• Christmas &
• Kwanzaa

Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is usually celebrated late January or early February and usually begins on the first new moon of the new year. This celebration lasts for approximately 15 days, during which time, there are several activities and practices. For one, Chinese families tend to clean their homes, then decorate with flowers and good luck sayings. In addition, they give money as gifts, in red envelopes. Why red envelopes you ask? They use red envelopes because red and orange are considered to be lucky colors in their tradition. They also take the time to visit family and friends and to wish them good luck for the new year. Like other cultures, they also add fireworks, music and dancing to their celebration. There is a colorful Lion Dance that uses loud noises to chase away bad luck.

Chinese New Year: the take-away

1. Family and friends are important. No man is an island and no man stands alone. Why else would they take the time to visit with and spend time with each other?
2. Try to think of others, instead of just yourself. Hence, gifts of money!
3. Positivity is key to success and happiness. While there are some things that are out of our control, our mindset is not. They decorate their homes with good luck sayings! Think positively and good will come. The law of attraction.
4. Now, this fourth suggestion is definitely all me (smiley face here), but wearing bright colors can most certainly help to put you in a good mood. And who knows, when you smile at the world, it just might smile back at you.

Be sure to check out the follow-up posts for the completion of this article. We would love to get your take on this topic: Is there any global celebration around the world that has caused to say, “hey, I like what this is teaching me or can teach me!” Feel free to share your thoughts with us.