Last week, WJJ and I went to a wonderful champagne tasting event with a few of our favorite friends. It was really wonderful. There were several bottles of exquisite champagne. We all savored every drop. One of my favorite “dinner partners”, Mark, commented that despite all the Holiday activities, I seemed so relaxed. I said I had just said the same thing to WJJ. And I assumed it was because we are not going on a cruise in January. Usually aside from all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I’m packing MANY boxes to be shipped for our glamorous and long voyage.
I said, “You know Mark, I feel so amazing calm --it’s unbelievable.” Obviously, it was the champagne talking. Because that night, I woke up at 2:30 AM and went to the bathroom every 15 minutes. No I didn’t have a UTI, I had HLA --Holiday List Anxiety! Oh the reason, I kept going to my bathroom is because that’s where I keep my “middle of the night idea” notebook.
What was I thinking? Sure, I had finished most of my Christmas shopping but I have a zillion things to do. And they all have a deadline. So following my own advice I did readjust my Top Priorities and took several deep breathes. I also eliminated a few things -that just weren’t going to get done.
You know someone once told me that I should write a book entitled, “How to run your life like a Business.” Because evidently that’s what I do. Frankly it seems to work. But staying balance while reaching your goals and keeping your sanity, doesn’t just happen. You have to truly discipline yourself to stay focused.
We also have to abandon our “super woman syndrome.” Remember the old adage, we can make some of the people happy all of the time or all the people happy some of the times but we can’t make all the people happy all of the times. All too often we strive for perfection in every aspect of our lives. And that’s impossible. So we feel like a failure. And that doesn’t feel good at all.
We lose sight of what is import and what isn’t. For example, if we are making a Gingerbread House with our children is it really that important how it turns out? Or is the importance the time we spend together as a family? I learned that lesson many years ago. For 3 consecutive years, Jamie and I made Gingerbread Houses. Each year, the result was more beautiful.
Evidently, the next year, I was rushed and somehow I “messed up” the frosting. As I tried to attach the cookies -the damn things wouldn’t “stick”. Time after time I tried. I added more confectionary sugar --still no luck. Of course Jamie was long gone knowing that I was crossing the threshold of Holiday Insanity, so he went to watch TV with WJJ! Thank the Lord, it hit me like a ton of bricks --who cares. I brought Jamie back with Elmer’s Glue in hand. Laughing hysterically, we glued all the cookies onto the Gingerbread House. It was one of our best experiences. Of course we did put a sign “Do Not Eat.” Truth be known, we almost allowed one of my “not so nice” aunts to actually eat a cookies drenched in glue, but at the last moment my sense of Christmas goodness emerged!
So stay focused on why Christmas is Christmas. It’s all about goodness and giving and the spirit of joy. Trust me ladies, we’ll get through this together.
BTW, several of you have already guessed from a previous blog, I am the Crazy Chick trying to lose 5 pounds before Christmas --but I’m not alone --am I?
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