5 life-affirming lessons from "A Boy Called Christmas" by Matt Haig. This poignant Christmas story reminds us that we have the power to become the best version of ourselves and that “An impossibility is just a possibility you don’t understand yet”.
In the blink of an eye, we are into December and just a few weeks away from Christmas!
Around this time of year, I love getting into the holiday spirit with gift shopping and binge-watching Christmas movies old and new.
This week, I started with "The Boy Called Christmas" on Netflix. It's a beautiful adaptation of the book by the same name. But like all movie adaptations of novels, the book is just so much richer.
"The Boy Called Christmas" by Matt Haig is not just a Christmas story. This poignantly written story touches on resilience, hope, gratitude, kindness and generosity through the adventure of an 11-year-old boy who overcomes hardships to discover his unique talents and life's purpose.
While the book is recommended for ages 7-12, the heartwarming, funny and adventure-filled story is entertaining for the child at heart in all of us. Here is the synopsis of the story from the book description on Amazon.com:
"Eleven-year-old Nikolas–nicknamed "Christmas"– has received only one toy in his life: a doll carved out of a turnip. But he's happy with his turnip doll because it came from his parents, who love him. Then one day his father goes missing, and Nikolas must travel to the North Pole to save him.
Along the way, Nikolas befriends a surly reindeer, bests a troublesome troll, and discovers a hidden world of enchantment in the frozen village of Elfhelm. But the elves of Elfhelm have troubles of their own: Christmas spirit and goodwill are at an all-time low, and Nikolas may be the only person who can fix things - if only he can reach his father before it's too late. . . ."
In many ways, it is a coming-of-age story as we follow Nikolas's growth to discover who he is, the value of family, love and friendship and ultimately the leader he was destined to be. Most of all, it's a story of hope, kindness and generosity to do what we can to spread joy in a sometimes very harsh world.
In "A Boy Called Christmas" Matt Haig was able to tackle difficult subjects such as loss, grief, hardship, loneliness and even discrimination with uplifting compassion for human nature.
Matt Haig is the number-one bestselling author of highly acclaimed adult novels and award-winning books for children. He is also known for his non-fiction work such as "Reasons to Stay Alive", "Notes on a Nervous Planet" and "The Comfort Book". His work is often described as uplifting even as he deals with subjects of depression, anxiety and suicide.
If you read my blog last week, Be a Lifelong Learner and Reap the Lifelong Benefits, then you know the benefits of reading for reducing stress and improving brain health. I highly recommend taking some self-care time during the busy holiday season to treat yourself to this life-affirming (possible) origin story of Father Christmas.
Meanwhile, here are my 5 life-affirming lessons from "A Boy Called Christmas" that remind me of the strength of the human spirit and our power to become the best version of ourselves.
Lesson 1
These wise words young Nikolas learns from an elder elf named Father Topo become a recurring message throughout the book. To the elves, "impossible" is a swear word because, in their magical world, nothing is impossible.
Nikolas reminds himself of these words when he gets stuck in what seems like impossible situations and figures his way through them by understanding the possibilities.
What a wonderful affirmation for our everyday lives when we come across our "impossibilities". Many times, it's our own viewpoint that makes something seemingly impossible. But if we take a step back to understand the challenge or difficulty, we can make many of our "impossibilities" possible.
Lesson 2
Father Topo gives more wise advice to Nikolas as he teaches him the magic needed for a human to be able to see the city of Elfhelm.
Even as Nikolas stands in front of the city, he initially cannot see anything but endless snow and mountains. Only when Nickolas rids the doubt in his heart and fully believes in the existence of Elfhelm does he see the magical city appear.
This is a great affirmation for achieving our life goals and purpose. We can't achieve something we don't believe in wholeheartedly. When we believe in our goals and purpose strongly enough, we can visualize them and work intentionally toward achieving them.
Lesson 3
Nikolas bravely tackles a dangerous trek across the Finland winter wilderness in search of his father who has disappeared while on an expedition in search of the existence of magic and the city of Elfhelm.
Hungry, cold and exhausted, the last leg of his journey involved climbing the "spikey mountains" that protected the city of Elfhelm. Each mountain spiked higher than the last, but Nikolas forged forward one peak at a time.
This affirmation teaches us not to be daunted by the difficulty of climbing our mountains in life. Whether it's a challenging project or a life goal you are working toward, if we keep on taking steps forward and don't become intimidated by the steepness of the climb, we will always get to the top.
Lesson 4
A special friend that Nikolas makes along his adventures is a Truth Pixi who cannot tell a lie. Nikolas seeks her advice when he struggles to find his purpose and value after becoming the leader of Elfhelm.
Even though he is well respected and admired by the elves, Nikolas feels he is not worthy of their adoration and wonders if he can contribute and live up to their expectations of him as a leader. The Truth Pixi (who is like the friend who tells it as it is) recounts Nikolas's contributions and reassures him of his potential.
Yes, even Father Christmas had imposter syndrome. Sometimes we work so hard at achieving something that we don't see the value of our accomplishments. This affirmation reminds me that we are constantly evolving to be the best version of ourselves and need to believe in our unique talents and abilities.
Lesson 5
In the end, Nikolas discovers his true talent and passion is giving to others.
He remembers the warmth he felt in his heart as a small boy when he received hand-made Christmas presents from his parents, a sled and a doll made from a turnip. The humble gifts were an expression of his parent's love and he remembered the joy they brought to his childhood.
As the leader of Elfhelm, Nikolas built a toy factory to ensure that there were toys and gifts for all of the city's citizens on Christmas day. But in the human world, people were suffering from hardship and many children went without toys at all. Nikolas felt that all children should experience joy on Christmas day and made it his mission to share Elfhelm toys with children around the world.
This affirmation is the heart of the Christmas spirit, to share kindness and joy with our friends, family, loved ones and community. It's not about the size of the gift, but the act of giving from the heart. Giving time, attention and appreciation to make sure those in our lives know the value they add to our lives.
A Season for Sharing Hope
“In a world like that, it's very easy to be bad. So when someone is good, or kind, it's magic in itself. It gives people hope. And hope is the most wonderful thing there is”
― Matt Haig, A Boy Called Christmas
When Nikolas first meets the Truth Pixi, she is a naughty Pixi who delights in playing pranks that often resulted in harming others. She learns that Nikolas was saved from freezing to death by elf magic called a "drimwick", a hope spell which uses the good within you to make you stronger. The Truth Pixi teases Nikolas for having such boring magic of being good.
At that moment, Nikolas reflected on all the bad he had experienced with people in the human world and told the Truth Pixi she was wrong. The human world was full of bad things like "misery, greed, sadness, hunger and unkindness all over the place". In his world where children had no toys to play with, went to bed hungry and where some children had no parents, finding good and being good was strong magic.
Father Christmas's naughty and nice list is about encouraging us to choose to be good.
In our modern-day world, it's easy to be self-absorbed and lost in our own problems. When we hear stories of good Samaritans and acts of selfless generosity around this time of year, it warms our hearts and gives us hope. We can contribute to that.
Each of us can be the best version of ourselves and can choose to contribute some good to the world. All it takes is small acts of kindness to cast hope spells of our own.
I end this week with my favourite illustration from Matt Haig's "The Boy Called Christmas". I think we can all learn from Father Christmas's list of how to be jolly in hard times.
Happy holiday prepping everyone!
I would love to hear your comments!
What is your favourite Christmas book or movie to get you in the holiday spirit?
What is the best book that you have ever received as a gift?
What is the most meaningful Christmas gift that you have received or given?
Thank you for spending time on AYCLimitless.com
Please share and subscribe if you enjoyed your time on the site.
Comments