When I recall my favourite Christmases past, what comes to mind are all the people I love gathered together around my parents' dining room table, enjoying a turkey dinner with bread stuffing, cranberry sauce and all our other favourites.
But I remember one special Christmas with just me and my son, Ryan, and we ate take out Quarter Pounders and fries (not what I usually recommend to my patients).
Ryan had the flu and I stayed home with him while the rest of the family joined the bigger gathering with the feast and the flurry of presents.
Ryan was about 10 and when he wasn't sleeping, we watched Christmas movies, including my favourite, It's a Wonderful Life.
That movie, in which Jimmy Stewart played the role of hometown hero, George Bailey, a selfless man who sacrifices his childhood ambition to travel around the world.
We witness the unfolding of the life story of a good and decent man from childhood to fatherhood. Over and over, he sacrifices his personal dreams to help those around him. Each time, he makes the hard choice without a moment of pause.
Ultimately, through the mistake of his elderly Uncle Billy, the financial wellbeing of the Bailey family and their business — The Building and Loan that had supported nearly the entire town of Bedford Falls — faces ruin.
These desperate circumstances trigger rage and despair, causing George to scream at his own children, admonish his daughter's teacher on the phone and get punched in the face by the teacher's angry husband.
This is a dramatic demonstration of how circumstances can trigger emotions which in turn highjack our thoughts and actions. We see that not knowing another person's backstory of challenges can lead us to make incorrect assumptions about their motives.
George becomes so distraught that he wishes that he was never born. He gets that wish, and with Clarence the angel as his guide, he sees what life for others in Bedford Falls would be like.
George finally grasps what a wonderful life he has lived — how his sacrifices and commitment to others changed the lives of nearly everyone in town for the better.
With this fresh perspective, he is able to rewrite his life story — the story he was telling himself.
All of us can make a difference in the way our lives touch upon the lives of so many others.
Every one of us can make a positive impact through our committed actions and our relationships with others.
What story do you tell yourself? Are you the hero or a victim? Who have been the unsung heroes in your life? How have you been an angel to others?
What can you do today and tomorrow to enhance your relationships and your positive impact?
Recognize the wonder that is your life, intertwined with the lives of many others.
The secret to living a wonderful life is in how we tell our stories: how we see ourselves and others and our relationships.
A well-told story in which you realize the positive impact of your words and actions on others can reground you in the meaning you create in your life and remind you that love is all about the love we receive and the love we give.
Dr. Davidicus Wong is a Burnaby family physician and has written for the NOW since 1991.
