A Christmas Carol: A Dickensian fairytale

It seems that in the blink of an eye the year has sped past and finally Christmas is here, along with the year's end. During these last few weeks of the year magic can happen. For many of us Christmas can be uplifting, bringing us optimism and confidence, a feeling of 'what the hell, I'll give it a go'. It's our last chance to make 2009 the best it could have been, one final opportunity to do the things we might regret if we don't; we know that January will bring back all the hesitations and 'what ifs' we had before. Then it begins all over again, another year, and December seems a lifetime away once more.
At the turn of one year to the next we're often compelled to re-think our lives, contemplate what we achieved during the past 365 days, what we could have done better, what we lost sight of. At this time of year the past comes back to haunt us, and the future looms in front of us, sometimes mockingly. Yet, with all the parties and celebrations that come with this festive season, a lot of us try to live in the present, leaving the past and present exactly where they belong. These conflicts between what lies behind us, before us, and what we're experiencing right now are explored in the classic Charles Dickens novel 'A Christmas Carol'. The moral most people draw from it is that we should be considerate of others, predominantly those less fortunate, and always keep in mind that money can't buy happiness. However, even though Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future in order to learn these lessons, these otherworldly characters can teach us something else; the importance of learning from the past, living in the present, and not worrying too much about the future. And I think that at this time of year it is all the more necessary to keep this in mind. But one without the other can have bad consequences.If you dwell in the past, going over all the mistakes you made and picturing the things you would change if given the chance, you will probably end up neglecting the present. Then that will become another regret. Yet, if you live too much in the present, party hard and give absolutely no consideration to the future, you might end up kicking yourself for lack of foresight when you get there. So when it comes to the past, present and future, balance is needed, and this is what we can gain from 'A Christmas Carol'. Scrooge is forced by the ghosts to think about his past, present and future, all in the same night...and on the other side of dawn he's a changed man. Perhaps the message of this is that an evaluation of our history can sway our future, and a look at our present can make us feel better about the past being where it is. Scrooge is shown both happy and unhappy memories from his past, including the moment he became more concerned with money than loved ones, leaving his fiance to concentrate on business. Therefore, looking back opens his eyes to his present, highlighting how different he is to the man he once was, happy and in love. We've all done things in the past we regret, some we wish we could change, but all things that have brought us to the point we are in our lives right now. And where we are now, the choices we make in the present, they influence our future, determining where we'll end up and who with. It's a never-ending wheel; past, present, future, and as present becomes past future becomes present. I'm one who's guilty of giving too much thought to the past and future, and too little to the present. Then frustration kicks in as what is becomes what was and I begin to wish I'd given more thought to my present when it was just that. The present is where we have the most freedom. The Ghost of Christmas Present in 'A Christmas Carol' is portrayed as a jolly giant, the friendliest of the three spirits. I think his pleasant demeanor shows just how flexible and yielding our present is. It may not seem like it, but it's the one tense we have most control over, and the one that has power over the other two. If we're in a good place in the here and now, we'll move away from the past, taking the good memories with us, discarding the bad ones; and we'll feel ready to experience the future, confident in our ability to shape it to what we want for ourselves. With New Year's approaching it's easy to get caught up in the past and think ahead to the future. Even I'm doing it, right now, by writing about the New Year, which is 2 weeks away! It's so easy to fall into the trap. But we do live in a world where the future is always being thought about, always being worried about. From concerns about global warming to essay deadlines, our minds are always on overload with what's around the corner. And sometimes the future ends up dictating to us, manipulating our decisions, controlling our present. We get scared that we aren't ready, that we won't know what to do when the future turns into our present. But Dickens' representation of the Ghost of Christmas Future as a grim-reaper figure with an ominous message for Scrooge shows that, in some cases, trying to look ahead can be detrimental. If we really knew what was coming our lives would lose all the mystery that life offers. If you knew where you would end up working, who you would wind up dating, and how long you would live, you'd probably get bored very quickly, and quite possibly scared. The future is more fun when it's a surprise. The areas of love and career especially are something we can anticipate, a reward to be worked towards. Well, hopefully at least. Hope is all we can have, the belief that the future will hold something good for us. Scrooge is shown his future death, which, sadly, is something to be found in all of our futures. But, as can be drawn from Scrooge's reaction, nobody really wants to know when something like that will happen. If we give too much thought to the future, to when something is going to happen, for example, a positive thing such as finding love, by the time we find it we will have become so obsessed with it that the real thing will be ruined by our anticipations. I think the fact that Dickens' Ghost of Christmas Future is completely concealed by a black cloak conveys the idea of the future as unseen, undetermined, and unwritten. If our present is a pen, it writes our futures and crosses out our past. We, our present selves, shape the life our future selves will live. If we take each moment as it comes and don't dwell on past mistakes or future choices, we have the license to make the future what we want it to be. But a little thought here and there of past and future won't hurt. When Scrooge is faced with the image of his future grave he says 'I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future' and I think this balance is something we should all strive towards as we move into 2010. So while you're celebrating with friends and family, unwrapping a different kind of present, and counting down to midnight on New Year's Eve, try to keep in mind that 2009, though it may have had many good memories, is now the past. Regrets are not worth dwelling on. And 2010 is the future, nothing to worry about at the moment, because que sera sera and all that jazz. Live in the moment, the in-between, the present. And have fun embracing the unknown. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year people! See you on the other side :)