When Christmas Won't Go Away.

"Christmas is not a day, it's a way of living with each other."

A few days after Christmas, everything goes back to its place.

The decorations are in the box.

The lights are off.

The streets are bustling again.

And you often think that with that, the time for caring is over.

But it's not.

A woman stopped at a bakery.

It wasn't a holiday.

It wasn't a special occasion.

She just noticed the old man in front of her putting the bread back.

"Please, let me pay," she said quietly.

She didn't smile.

She didn't explain.

She didn't make a story out of it.

On the way home, she thought that it would have been easier to do this on Christmas Eve.

Then it would have been "okay."

But now it was a decision.

Another day, a man didn't immediately hang up the phone when a friend called him.

He didn't feel like talking.

He was tired.

He stayed on the line.

He didn't give advice.

He didn't solve anything.

He was just present.

And in the evening he realized that it was the same feeling as when he sat next to someone at Christmas.

A child asked his mother:

- Why don't we help now like we did at Christmas?

The mother couldn't answer right away.

Then she just said:

- We can help. We just don't always realize that it's needed now.

And maybe that's the point.

Christmas is not a day, it's a memory.

A memory of being able to slow down.

How we can pay attention.

How we can notice the other without needing a special occasion.

Solidarity is not a festive dress.

Caring is not seasonal.

Love is not tied to a calendar.

Christmas is just a reminder of what we can do on other days of the year - if we let it.

And when on an average Tuesday someone stops, someone listens, someone gives without counting, then Christmas has not passed.

It just lives on unnoticed.

It doesn't always have to be a holiday.

It doesn't need lights, music, a special occasion.

It's enough to stop every now and then, notice the other person, and not look away.

Caring doesn't live in grand gestures, but in the small decisions of everyday life.

If this continues, then Christmas will not end.

It will just remain with us in silence.