Christmas has turned into a very goal oriented holiday over the years. Months in advance manufacturers and advertisers and retail stores and all types of businesses associated with the holidays work to be prepared for the season. Then people start gearing up for the season. Doing and planning and shopping and parties and maneuvering schedules and time….there’s never enough time even if there’s enough money. All so that in one particular 24 hour period we can all be together and eat and open packages wrapped in fancy paper. Um…fun???!!!
If you’re too exhausted to enjoy the moment, if you’ve been running so hard that you go into shock when the running stops, if you have done so much that the joy has been ground out of the season, then what’s the point? I’m not going to go all Hallmark on you and play the sappy emotional music and ask you to bliss out with some eggnog and make donations instead of buying presents this year. Unless that’s what would make all this craziness stop and get you back on track. If that’s the case then by all means do so. And thank you for doing that so I don’t have to. 🙂
What I am saying is that we can shift gears so we’re more balanced about the whole thing. Instead of flailing around like a one armed paper hanger, we can change our focus. The reason for the season is joy and celebration, it’s not a sport that is won or lost and there is no finish line. So drop out of the race a bit, take the pressure off, and breath. Each part of this (as much as is physically possible) should be a dance step in the Christmas dance. Doesn’t matter if you are graceful or clumsy at it, at least your dancing. Which is fun no matter what. It’s not the tango, more the hokey pokey. Get your shoulders out of your ears, realize that most of this stuff we are taking so seriously is ridiculous, laugh at yourself and keep going. At the end you might be out of breath, but it will be from joy and not from the agony of a race run for no reason with no prize at the end.