“How can you possibly hope to stop me?”

“Like the old man said… together.”

– Ultron and Tony Stark, Avengers: Age of Ultron

This might not be the most holiday-flavored quote ever… or is it? 😉

This comes towards the end of the second Avengers movie, after the heroes have gone all gone through a great deal, even been at each others’ throats once or twice, scattered and reunited, had the world turned upside down, and have only been spared from death by the fortuitous arrival of friends. Now it all comes down to one final fight, in one spot, with one goal, and the enemy has gathered the full of his strength, thinking to overwhelm those who stand in his way. But the Avengers face the great, chaotic, messy conflict together, and they overcome.

That’s a lot like life, isn’t it? We’re coming up on the end of the year, a very long, chaotic year filled with upsets, and sometimes we’ve been at each others’ throats. Not only are the holidays always filled with chaos, but as we end one year, we can’t help but look ahead to the next. After everything that has happened, some people are probably wondering how we can get through… everything. We don’t know what will happen, but we do know that there are a number of unpleasant things likely coming our way. It’s that combination of known-bad and completely-unknown that gets people down.

But we don’t need to be afraid. We don’t need to resign ourselves to losing. Because when you get down to it, we still have each other. We don’t need to face our fears, our “enemies,” alone.

To me, the end of the year, and the holidays, are time where we can come together, to remember that all-important truth. We take a moment to rest, catch out breath, lean on each other, and off we go again, forward into the future.

So, in that spirit, I hope everyone can enjoy their holidays to the fullest! 🙂