Making It Through the Holiday Stress

If you are like most Americans, you are freaking out about how you're going to get all your Holiday shopping done and how you're going to travel everywhere you need to go over the Holidays. Trying to overdo it is a normal situation for all of us and sometimes we all just need to take a step back and realize that the Holidays are about family, friends, and being with the ones we love, not impressing them. I think we all sometimes work a bit to hard to make sure every detail is perfect for our family and really, our family just wants to relax and be with everyone.

Perfect is the enemy of good enough. It's taking me a long time to realize (30 years of my life) that being a perfectionist is not always a good thing. Sometimes, we all need to step back and accept good enough. Having the "perfect" Christmas is sometimes as simple as just having family over, eating together, and then enjoying each others company. Really, do you remember a gift that you received 5 years ago that really changed your Christmas day. There are some exceptions, but we are all so conditioned to give and receive gifts that we really tend to overlook or glaze over with all the gifts. I'm not saying that we don't necessarily appreciate them, but it's almost like over stimulation of the senses and we get overloaded. I'm of the opinion that one great gift is enough and especially one that has meaning.

So, when you're preparing for this Holiday Season, keep in mind the importance and the point of this great time of year. Don't get too caught up in the hoopla that can create stress in an otherwise fun time. We don't get to see the whole family (or the vast majority hopefully) all the time, and being appreciative of this is good for the soul.

Good luck with your shopping and preparations for the Holidays. Good luck if you have a challenging family also! :-)

Some Thoughts on Giving Thanks

Another Holiday year is here again, and just the same as last year, the madness and hustle and bustle of it all is making it fly by pretty quickly. Already we've got Thanksgiving knocking at our door and Christmas is right around the corner. I truly don't know where the year went.

With that said, I do have a few things that I'm very thankful for. My health has been mostly good this (very good relative to many) and for that I'm thankful. I have a wonderful girlfriend that loves me unconditionally, and I'm grateful. I have an awesome and inspiring family for which I am thankful. I'm been blessed enough to still have a great job and a wonderful home, with plenty to eat, and a warm bed in which to sleep. For all those things I am very thankful. Since I've begun this blog, I've made it my priority to see the lighter side and the simpler path in life. In doing so, it makes me really put a microscope to my own behaviors and actions, as well as the components of my life. This has given me all the more reflection time, resulting in more appreciation for the gifts and blessings that I do have.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am really excited about giving thanks tomorrow for the celebration of our ancestors making the trek from Europe to Plymouth Rock. Whether it means gorging myself on pumpkin pie and turkey, or just appreciating good conversation with my family members, I will be in the spirit of giving thanks. I know that not everyone has the blessings that I have and I must not take any of it for granted. As we all say, "life is short" and "this too shall pass." I don't want things to change, but life happens and things do change. All the more reason to enjoy what we have now. In the here and now.

Please enjoy what you have and count your blessings this Thanksgiving. By all means, have a wonderful one!

Cheers.