Charles Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol‘ over a hundred and fifty years ago.

Many things have changed during this time.

We no longer have child labour, or the debtors’ prisons–and thank goodness for that!

But the themes which Dickens explored in his novella are still relevant:

• Redemption and personal transformation
• Social responsibility
• Importance of family
• Kindness
• Generosity, and
• Happiness

Dickens portrays Christmas as a time which brings out our better nature, and the virtues listed above.

But his message is clear: we should live by these ideals all year round.

I can’t help but agree with Dickens–especially when it comes to happiness.

Why they heck don’t we work harder at being happier throughout the year?

I’m convinced that if we did, all the other things that Dickens wanted from us would happen more or less automatically.

And we need only do one simple thing to get there, we’d have to keep choosing the positive over the negative…

Between, ‘Bah humbug!’

And

‘A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!’

Resources

• Why Happiness Matters
• Charles Dickens (Biography)
• A Christmas Carol (Text at Project Gutenberg)