I would like to take a moment and reflect on this busy month. Regardless of what you are, or have been celebrating this month one thing is for sure, you have been busy not only in your business, but also with family and friends. My family and I celebrate Christmas, and I was asked the other day how my plans were coming along for the holidays. I was almost surprised by the question as I quickly realized that time was ticking away very quickly, there was only a week left, and I still had so much to do.
When the kids were younger I was a stay at home mom, I would spend a lot of time filling the freezer with baking, and there were so many presents to wrap, but things have changed. It is almost strange to think about how different it really is. It seems like a lifetime ago.
our last two Christmases have been very different from the how we normally celebrate. In 2010 we decided that we would take a vacation rather than exchange gifts. we went to Disney world for 10 days and it was an awesome trip with some amazing memories. We enjoyed it so much that last year we wanted to do something like it again. We went to a small town in North Dakota to go skiing… it was also a wonderful experience and we have a lot of stories from that weekend including the fact that there was such a snow shortage that the manufactured snow was more like ice, and my husband ended up with a broken tailbone after attempting to snow board.
Why am I telling you this? I want to share with you what Christmas means to me. It has nothing to do with presents, I would trade all of the presents for the happy memories and funny stories that spending time with my family brings.
this is the last week for school, and because my husband is a teacher we will all be together for a couple weeks. I know we will be enjoying one another’s company.
At this time of year it is important to make time for family and friends. Take an opportunity to stop and help someone who is struggling, physically or financially. The concept of kindness and the joy you will feel is not there because it is December, it is there because the human heart is warmed by it. If we all choose to continue giving and sharing throughout 2013 all the little acts of kindness would multiply and you would find your heart overflowing with joy and happiness, this would allow you to feel true gratitude, and life would get easier for you.
Take time this week to enjoy your family. For some of you this might just be the toughest part of December. Many of our families gather together during this time of year and sometimes we make it more difficult than it has to be on ourselves to go to a family function because there are people there that we don’t want to see. When we let our negative feelings for those people cloud our judgment it creates a negative experience for not only you, but others around you as well. The best thing you can do is take a step back and figure out why you are going in the first place. Perhaps it is for your mom, a sister or brother, or it may be for your spouse. Find out your reason and then ask yourself, if it is them that I am doing this for, don’t I owe it to them to be positive? you will be surprised that if you switch the record in your mind from those you don’t want to see to those you do, your experience will be much better and you may even enjoy your family event.
My wisdom for you is to focus on your family and the friends you have around you. Take this with you in the New Year and continue to make it a priority, because life will fly by and you might miss something important. Go out in to the world and “pay it forward”, help someone else out. Then feel the joy of the act of giving, and find time to be grateful for what you already have.
