Welcome back!
We’re mixing it up here on the blog for the next few weeks and returning our hearts to the wonder of Christmas. In yesterday’s post I invited you to join me on this three-week journey until Christmas. We’re going to slow things down and soak up the simple of the season. We’ll be open and honest as we discuss and share. And, we’ll even have some fun together as we prepare our hearts and live with hope.
I look forward to sharing my days of this season with you.
Two questions we’re answering today:
1. What do you enjoy most about Christmas and the season that’s upon us?
2. What do you enjoy the least?
I’ll answer first.
What I enjoy most is celebrating the birth of Jesus with my family and friends. We have certain traditions and days I look forward to. Each year we typically celebrate with my side of the family on December 23, with my friend Tina and her family on Christmas Eve, we’re home on Christmas day (oftentimes in our p.j.’s), and then with Bill’s side of the family on a day near Christmas. I wait all year long for these special celebrations.
What I enjoy least is the often unrealistic expectations I tend to put on myself. I have a tendency to add extra stress and strain, thinking I have to have everything “perfect” to make it a perfect Christmas.
Now it’s your turn.
What do you enjoy the most and the least?
It’s okay if you don’t answer publicly in the comments below, but please answer these two question for yourself. (There is a point to them. Bear with me.) Keep in mind there are no right or wrong answers. Yours and mine are likely different, and they reveal what’s important to both you and me. Please, take a few minutes to answer.
If you enjoy baking, then bake to your heart’s content. If it’s helping at a soup kitchen during the holidays, then do just that. Maybe you enjoy decorating your home to the point your decor could have it’s own Pinterest board. If so, spend your time doing that. As much as possible, do what you enjoy the most. Do that activity that brings you joy.
Based on my answer, I’ll put more time and effort in the celebrations with my family and friends.
Now, for the flip-side. Whatever your answer was to what you enjoy the least, can you let go of it? Can you forget about it or get creative with it this year? If you detest shopping, can you order online or have someone else do it for you? If you don’t enjoy cooking the annual Christmas meal, can you order out instead? Or if the many Christmas gatherings are too much for you, can you chose just a couple to attend instead of them all?
I’m giving up striving to have a perfect Christmas this year. (It’s already perfect without me doing a thing.)
Our hearts are open to the wonder of Christmas when we embrace what we enjoy.
When we embrace what we enjoy and let go of what we don’t, we find a lift in our step and a smile on our face. Our disposition becomes brighter and our joy deeper. We rediscover the beauty of the season.
It’s a simple concept, but if you’re like me, sometimes we fall into the trap we need to do it all. Sometimes we just need to give ourselves permission to let go of what we enjoy least.
I invite you back tomorrow. In the meantime, think of your funniest or most crazy Christmas memory. We’ll have some fun with this tomorrow!
Blessings,
Julie
The things I love the most about Christmas are having my children and now grandchildren all home sharing in our family traditions, the music, and the glow of all the little lights around the house. What I like the least are the crowded stores and taking down all the decorations.
Cindy, I love reading what you like the most and least about Christmas and the season. I’m with you! Taking down the decorations tend to depress me. I didn’t think of that when I wrote my post. Yuck. So glad we get to embrace the good stuff with family, music, and such! Thanks for being here!