The Best Worst Christmas, A Holiday Story
The Holidays are here and the New Year looms at a time when not only are many of us are going through different transitions in our lives but the whole world seems to be changing as well. Consequently amidst all the joy of the season there can also be an undercurrent of uncertainty. When the things we have planned may not be going as well as we would like it’s easy to fall into pattern of self-judgment, impatience and fear.
Recently in my own personal journey to dramatically alter my life style I found myself at a point in the process where a certain number of goals had been achieved but unable to stop stressing about the larger number of steps that are yet to be taken. As I sat down to write this long overdue article I was feeling frustration at not being further along in my process than I am. As a woman of a certain age I often look back to similar times in my life when I overcame challenges for inspiration and immediately ‘The Best Worst Christmas’ came to mind.
The Worst Christmas
Without a doubt it was the worst financial time in my life. My daughter was in high school and we were about to experience a Christmas ‘without’. Explaining was unnecessary but I still felt dreadful at not being able to give her what we normally experienced at Christmas. I felt depressed and ashamed but there was nothing I could immediately do to change it. I’ll never forget my beautiful and wonderful daughter reassuring me that it didn’t matter and that next year would be better for us both. After some discussion we decided that this would be the smallest and best Christmas ever. We agreed to exchange two gifts and we would spend no more $10.00 for each! (I still have the small rod iron wall key holder in the shape of a dog she gave me!) As for dinner we both agreed that we would serve the one thing we both liked best about the holiday meal…pies. I made two pumpkin pies and one pecan pie. As for activities we settled on a movie marathon ‘veg’ day, one of our favorite things to do. It seems all time stops when you spend a day watching back to back rented movies.
Christmas Eve came and we harnessed up our big dogs and went for a roller blade around the neighborhood and took in the lights. As is our tradition we both opened one of our gifts and enjoyed the evening. When morning came we opened that last gift, had a small breakfast, made popcorn and dove into the movies. The day flew and we eventually brought out the pies, two forks and dove into them as we continued to overdose on the movies. We were so full of sugar we had to take periodic brief walks with the dogs and some wonderful cat naps. There was no agenda, plan or schedule and it turned out to be an oddly relaxing marathon of laughing and giggling like school girls at a slumber party. I have never forgotten how happy I was and how close I felt to my daughter. On that very special day we managed to set aside all the worries and problems, truly enjoy each other and the moment. Beautiful!
The Bodacious Christmas
The next year came and with it much better times. I wound up working for a very profitable and fun condo conversion and my daughter found a good job and was living in her first apartment. We both agreed that although our last Christmas was special, this Christmas would be a testimony to our better times. I nicknamed it the Bodacious Christmas and we filled the living room with so many presents we couldn’t walk into room; it took us hours just to open them all. Oddly enough we once again spent the day laughing and giggling like school girls at a slumber party, we were happy and reveled in our triumphs and the moment.
After recalling these special times I couldn’t help but notice that I was smiling and I felt better. I realized there were valuable lessons in these memories. Tomorrow will come soon enough, I have done enough and it is perfectly OK, in fact helpful for me to take some time for myself, enjoy my family and make any day special. Things will change in our lives, sometimes for the better and sometimes the circumstances may not be what we want or planned; its part of the journey and the growth we all experience. Remember all the amazing things you have accomplished over the years. You have survived much and have skills and talents you may have forgotten to appreciate. But most importantly be patient with yourself and make taking care of your emotional and physical needs a priority every day but especially during challenging episodes in your life. Lastly, it isn’t about what you have or do that makes you special, it’s about who you are on the inside that really counts.
Sometimes the sheer volume and burden of ‘stuff’ can bury the best and most valuable parts of our lives!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
TO YOU ALL!
P.S. Just a quick reminder…this is the perfect time to get a jump on the New Year and a FRESH START with the 21Day Attitude Adjustment E-course!
You don’t have to have a bad attitude to get a better one. All too often we resist a change because we assume change means that we were “not OK” which hurts our self-image.
Your attitude may be great right now…and it can get even better. Why not get better? Why not do more, be more? Why not extend those limits?
~Thomas D. Willhite
P.S.S. If you are following Coffee with Debi and Doug be sure to join us for a cup of holiday coffee as we poke a little fun at what we call Shock and Awe Holiday Advertising…WHAT? We have also put up our entire How to talk to a man over 50 series on our page for those of you who might have missed one of our discussions. Click here to join us!
To Your Dreams and Possibilities
Deborah
Deborah Hayes, CTA Life Coach
Empowering women to live a life of consequence, a life without regrets that is your own unique version of the life you love. About Deborah
deborah@womenintransitiononline.com
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