Happy Holidays !

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”  Unknown

“The Holidays” are here ready or not. For some of us, we’re ready. For others of us, we’re not.

It’s not that we don’t mostly enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas, the two major occasions that for most of us are celebrated this time of year;  it’s not that we don’t understand the importance of time with our friends and family; it’s not that we don’t enjoy an occasional concert or church service; it’s not that we don’t like exchanging presents with our families.  In moderation we respect, appreciate and enjoy all of that. It’s just that this time of year, at the front end of “the holidays”, it can hit us in the face ALL AT ONCE.  And when that happens it can be quite overwhelming. Event by event it’s not too difficult but when taken as a whole the holidays can be  daunting. When we think about the driving, at times in cold and nasty weather, the decorating, the shopping, the wrapping of gifts , the entertaining family and friends,  the preparation and serving of food, the eating too much, the dieting to lose what we’ve gained; the taking down the tree and decorations and putting everything away, it can all be hard to swallow. Even online shopping can be stressful at times. 

The truth is, none of this is the fault of “the holidays”; it's our own fault. We not only do not have to do everything at once, we  don't even  have to think about doing everything at once. Nothing says that we have to do all of the above. Although it would not be realistic to suggest that we could do none of the above, we certainly don’t have to do any of it.  It’s just that at the front end it can all be overwhelming.

Several years ago after a significant car accident, I was having a difficult time driving.  I had had several car accidents in my life. But it was the random nature of this accident and how this large car came out of nowhere to hit me and total my car that so thoroughly shook me up. I literally didn't see it coming.  Less than two weeks after the accident, I found myself driving in San Francisco in a rented minivan.  I was struggling with it to say the least.  Later in the week at a  friend’s house near Santa Rosa, my friend sensing my distress, took  me to a book store and bought for me the book, Full Catastrophe Living. The title says it all. Reading the book didn’t cure me of all my angst, but it made a huge difference.  So even now as I’m thinking about “the holidays”, I’m thinking about that book. The author admonishes us to celebrate the whole catastrophe! So just let “the holidays” play out a day at a time.  When it’s time to decorate—decorate.  When it’s time to travel—travel.  When it’s time to go to church –go to church.  When it's time to shop--shop. When it’s time to eat too much—eat too much. But just remember that it takes a lot longer to take it off than it does to put it on. When it’s time to take down all the decorations and put them all away then take down the decorations and put them all away.  You don’t have to do it all at once. It’s not, for example,  time to take down the decorations; most of us haven’t even put them up!

Thanksgiving is in the books and it was, for us, one of the best Thanksgivings ever. So all that’s left to do is Christmas.  Ho! Ho! Ho!.  Starting right now I plan to let it play out, to watch it play out.  But not just to watch, but to engage and participate in every way possible.  That’s the least I can do for my family, my friends and for myself. If we take it a day and an occasion at a time, it can really be "Happy Holidays" for all of us (and, of course, "Merry Christmas", if you prefer).