I have three fun things this week. First, enjoy another excerpt from Simplify & Savor the Season to release Christmas planning stress (below).
Second, is to let you know I am LOVING using my Simplify & Savor Take-Along planner! On my way to shop at my regular grocery store for T-day dinner, it hit me that I’d forgotten what items I needed at a different store. Not to worry—enter my Take-Along. I reached into the diaper bag and voila—I’d written all necessary lists earlier, and they were in the right spot—talk about holiday cheer! Everything from gifts to menu planning to needed decorations were all written and remembered, right when I needed it. Love when that happens!
Third, this week’s “Simplify Saver”: Purchase a Simplify & Savor Book Bunch (5 books for $25!) and receive 5 professionally printed Simplify & Savor Take-Alongs for only $.99 each (5 for $4.99). Great for gifts, help family, friends and neighbors organize and re-energize the holidays for a great price.
Meanwhile, enjoy this excerpt from Simplify & Savor the Season: Organize and Re-energize Your Holidays!
“Release the Christmas Stress”
If you’re like many women and woke up Monday morning to face December with a less-than-prepared-for Christmas feeling—relax. What hasn’t been done so far probably wasn’t that crucial on the timeline. And what remains that is vital can be done more happily with a few of the following ideas.
Savor the process. Slow down, today, even right now. Delight in the simple pleasures—sparkling lights, irritating familiar carols, the fifth plate of gift cookies. These joyful bits come once a year and remind us to celebrate the season and appreciate the unexpected, and perhaps undesired.
Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard shares in Families Who Laugh…Last that one year she found her young daughter in the bathroom in the midst of hundreds of white paper pieces literally everywhere. Confused and in mother mode, Janene told her daughter to clean up the mess. Later, Janene understood the purpose of the mess after receiving a special Christmas gift—a homemade snow globe.
Can anyone say “mother guilt”?
So welcome what comes daily, especially the plentiful opportunities to lift someone’s load. The other day while at breakfast with a friend we noticed a lady leaning on a walker. Spontaneously, we offered to help with her packages and she accepted. In those few minutes I felt a tangible joy from simply being available to help another. These are the experiences that make the holidays fulfilling.
Don’t force the celebration. So the cookies burned, the pine tree died, or the person bringing the main dish didn’t get the message. Live the dream anyway! Let down and be part of the experience without choreographing a superficially successful one. My husband and I host a company party each year. Because some of his floor installation crews speak a limited amount of English, sometimes I’ve worried if everyone is enjoying the evening.
However, this year I promised myself to stop stressing and start enjoying the people, even if it meant some awkward silence. And it was amazing! I was able to talk with a woman who had suffered polio as a child and now was able to walk with a crutch. She also volunteered for several organizations while studying filmmaking. Currently, a few of her documentary films on homelessness and domestic violence were being shown in homeless shelters. What a fabulous connection we enjoyed. I learned to let go of being the Stressed Out Happy Fairy (i.e., “IS EVERYBODY HAVING FUN?”) and instead, be in the moment.
Give people the benefit of the doubt. Watching the play A Christmas Carol, I remembered a poignant comment on the story, which was this: that even though Scrooge had had a change of heart—as incredible as it was—that Cratchett’s wife and Scrooge’s nephew still had to frankly forgive him. Clearly, they were completely unaware as to what Scrooge had personally experienced. And yet, they welcomed his sudden change with open arms.
We can do that too. Even when a family member hasn’t experienced a “mighty change of heart,” that’s okay. We can still let go of being irked at their choices and choose to love them for this season. Instead of becoming angry at familiar triggers, we can try a quick smile and change the conversation. Or, we can plan ahead for predictable choices (i.e. Uncle Bob is always late, Aunt Midge is typically bossy). And we can even let said Aunt Midge decorate the table as she likes—what does it matter in the long run? Just for now, we can open our arms and hearts without pre-conceived prejudices, and simply let people be.
Give yourself permission to let go of the cookie cutter Christmas. Instead, revel in the carols, sample the baked goods, and appreciate the unexpected but profound before us.
Best,
Connie
