Remember when Christmas was the most magical time of the year? Twinkling lights, freshly-baked cookies and the thrill of waking up in the morning to find presents and that Santa and the reindeer had eaten the cookies and carrots.

And it seemed the magic fades away for most when we stop believing in Santa. There’s just something so thrilling about believing in something that brings such happiness to everyone.

In my house we have a motto around Christmas: “If you don’t believe, you don’t receive.” Honestly, I believed until I was like 15. My parents did a freaking amazing job of making sure the magic lived on as long as possible. Those were the most magnificent winters of my life. My heart was broken when I found out it was really my neighbors putting the presents under the tree while we were out “looking for Santa.”

Recently, a young girl told my 9-year-old sister that Santa wasn’t real. The hurt and pain in her eyes was something I never wanted to see. Her heart was crushed that another magical creature to believe in had died. I did my best to tell her that the girl was wrong, and she was just mad because she got coal last Christmas.

I can only hope she believed me rather than the young girl who liked to crush dreams. Why do we have to stop believing in something that brought us such happiness as a child? Why ruin happy things that bring us joy when our world is so horrible, sometimes?

Beleving in whatever it is you believe in should be a personal experience that brings you joy and should be shared if others welcome it. Don’t ruin the wonderment for others.

If believing in something makes our days a little brighter, why ruin that for something else? Everyone deserves to enjoy the magic as long as possible.