Christmas is almost here. Yay!!!! Let the shopping panic mania begin. LOL…ahem….*cough* I mean. Yay!!! Christmas.
We humans are creatures of habit and we are social. This means that we will tend to do what we have always done and what everyone else is doing or what other people that we value tell us we should do. Which is just fine unless all of that is exactly the wrong thing to do or doesn’t fit your needs or actually does violence to your soul and body. No, I’m not talking about the gorging on all the wrong foods. That’s a requirement and what would New Year’s be without regret, weight gain, and the first resolution, “I will never do that again.”
I’m talking about all the other traditions and how unexamined they are. Every one of us has been handed a set of traditions and then create their own or borrowed them or been merged into them until there is an entire holiday in a box with the steps all lined out for you in a handy to do list that looks like Santa unscrolling the ‘nice’ list before getting in the sleigh. All of these things to do and have to’s and time critical things to be done in a certain order….and the drama if something gets missed, if wire’s get crossed, if you get double/triple/quadruple booked on any given evening or weekend….
Christmas should be about fun and joy and enjoying each other and the season. If we’re too busy, too tired, or too freaked out because of the people we have to socialize with then we’ve lost the meaning of the season. So take a moment to examine all the things on the list. Do they really have to happen? To they have to be done in the way you’ve always done them? Do they match who you and your family are at this point? Are there other things that make more sense and would allow you to participate in the joy of the season? Perhaps this year is the one where you steer yourself a little closer to your true course. Just a little course correction with the egg nog, just a little more of choosing what works for you and less of doing what other’s need.
Just thinking about it is putting a smile on your face, isn’t it? Merry Christmas.