I have recently become the best Rice-Krispie square maker that you will ever meet, or so I thought. This morning as I try desperately to re-create my perfect “kispies” for the morning coffee routine, I found I was almost out of marshmallows. I thought I could run down to the grocery store and mess up my whole morning, or I could try to improvise and make a half batch. Not sure I would feed the outcome to the garbage can, but we joked and laughed about it for quite awhile. I called it the ball of butter and cereal mess. This got me thinking about all the years I would stress myself to the point of tears, trying to make the perfect Christmas.
I remember calling my Mother at least twenty times in one Christmas day to ask for help with just about everything. She joked about it for years. All I can remember is thinking that this Christmas thing people do, should not be so stressful. Over the years I have tried to come up with better ideas.
If we could just hold on to the idea that Christmas is about Love and being with family and friends, it would be much easier. I am sure our family and friends don’t care if all the bulbs on the tree are perfectly arranged, or if the hall closet is clean, or if there are clean sheets on our bed. This is how crazy I got. Spring cleaning was happening in December. I would spend hours on the tree and making the house look perfect. My children were barely able to sit in the living room until the family had come and gone. The funny thing about all my stressing is that the family and friends never noticed at all the work I had done. They were visiting us, not our house. I got older and I got wiser.
Today, as I look at the calendar and realize that I have ten days until Christmas Eve, I am sitting and doing what I Love to do the most. I am writing. I slept in today, but I refuse to neglect myself and what makes me a happier and calmer person.
I take the time to set up my Essential Oil diffuser and take in some of the amazing scents as I write. I will then call up my sister and make that connection of Love. We always try to talk about fun, silly, and positive things and usually end up laughing till our bellies hurt. Wait till she hears about those kispies!
I just set up a lunch date with a very good friend. Again, someone who makes me smile and laugh and who gives the best hugs. I will stop on the way to work and make a hair appointment, just because my hair is getting too long and not because it must look perfect for Christmas Day. I take the time to get some purrs from the cats as I stop and pet them without a glance at the clock. The Christmas cards I ordered might be here today and they might be late getting to their destination, but they might not be. It will probably turn out perfectly. It will turn out perfectly, because I am getting good at this. Good at creating perfect timing by letting go of trying to control everything. By just staying in the moment and enjoying the process.
I have learned that the more I go with the flow of my days and weeks ahead, the more things just seem to fall into place. It seems like the more I struggled and stressed in the past, the more I couldn’t seem to pull things together. Now, thankfully, by some strange magical way, everything just comes together and it all turns out perfectly. The more I detach from the outcomes of events, the better time I have and the more Joy I feel.
If this sounds impossible to even understand, then just try it. Try to let go of the long list of things you must do today. Just go about your day taking alittle bit more care of yourself and see how it goes. Stop and have that cup of coffee with that friend you never seem to have time to visit. Stop and smell some of the new perfumes at the drug store. Stop and sit on Santa’s knee. Why not? Have fun! Just do it. I am betting you will get home and be surprised how many things you managed to knock off that list. Don’t stop there. Now look at the clock. What? You have time to sit and read a chapter of your favorite book before starting to make dinner? Do not fill this time with another chore, sit down and pick up that book. Just do it! This is where the magic happens. Take care of yourself, doing what makes you happy, and really experience the Joy and Magic of the Season.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! Stay in Love and Gratitude.
