It’s that time of the year again—shopping, baking, holiday
parties, traveling, wrapping gifts—that
time of the year when the mind becomes
a blur and down-time is nonexistent. Is there a way to get through it and still
find the enjoyment that is meant to be?
When I was a working mom, I seemed to handle the stress of
the holidays much better. Maybe I was more organized. Let’s face it. When a
person has the responsibility of work and family, organization is essential.
Now that I’m retired, you’d think there would be more time to do the things
that I want to do and things that need to be done and less stress associated
with it. Nope. Not true.
Now that I am no longer a fulltime teacher and a mom with
growing boys, I do cherish my time at home, but that doesn’t mean I’m any more
organized and ready for the holidays. Why is that? Do other women (and men)
experience the same frenzy that I find myself in during the holidays?
Is it because we try to do too much because we have the time
to do it? Is it because others expect more of us? I think it’s because my brain
is still active (that’s a good thing) and thinks my body is still young and
able to do all it wants to do. I’ll make a confession: I’m at the end of my
sixth decade, but I do sometimes forget that. I’m an author and I still
have all these wonderful plans for more books to write, contests to enter,
blogs to write, edits to do, and on and on, but when it comes down to it, I
can’t do it all, or maybe I just don’t have the energy to do it all.
So at this time of the year when everyone is rushing around,
I think we all need to take inventory of the things in our lives that need to
be done or want to do. Whether it’s finishing that next manuscript or actually
having our Christmas list finished early, maybe a little organization and
realization of what we can do is needed.
Can’t finish something? Don’t stress. Decide what's important. Rewrite your
list of to-do-chores and do only those things that are necessary. Christmas is a time of joy.
Don’t let stress take that joy away.
