Do you ever wish you could hide from December 23rd till January 2nd?
Just skip the whole holiday celebration thing?
If that’s so, then this article is for you.
Because I’m sharing a little journaling exercise that’ll cut right through the fluff, the should’s, and the perpetual family traditions to the heart of what you want from this holiday.
Ready?
What do you look forward to?
First off, I want you to list your cherished family traditions.
For example….
- Putting up the tree with Christmas carols playing in the background
- Eating French onion soup for Christmas Eve
- Having a turkey do-over for Christmas day
- Stocking the cookie jar with a rotating variety of spritz, gingerbread men, pinwheels, and peppernuts
- Attending the Christmas Eve service
- Leaving the Christmas tree’s lights on when you leave the house at night so you can come back to soft, colorful lighting
Now that I’ve got your juices going….
What does your family do?
(Only the fun ones, remember – this isn’t the time to list every tradition you’ve ever tried. This is the place for the best of the best – the “it wouldn’t be Christmas without it” ones.)
What do you hate doing?
The second thing we’re going to do is take stock of where you’re at this season.
What’s pulling you down?
What’s creating that heaviness?
Get that bullet list going of “I hate [this expectation] right now” stuff.
Because we have to ID the negative parts so we can cut them out of your life.
Give yourself permission to do things the lighter way this year.
So go on – list ‘em all out.
- Do you dislike styling the tree?
- Trying to decorate the house up to Pinterest standards?
- Finding the time to take family photos (and then fiddling with the arrangement till it looks just so) for the annual Christmas card?
- Baking that many kinds of Christmas cookies?
- Having to drive the kids to all sorts of holiday activities? (And then they’re up too late, stuffed with sugar, and can’t sleep….)
What is it for you?
That one thing (okay, maybe several things) that if you didn’t have to do it ever again, you’d be singing the Hallelujah chorus?
Write it down.
Where can you outsource?
And now, number three: this year, give yourself permission to skip all those stress-inducing activities.
(Or outsource them to a relative – maybe even an older kid who loves to bake!)
Remember – no guilt allowed!
You’re doing what’s best for you, while honoring the holiday traditions that mean most to you.
You’re not somehow celebrating a faux Christmas by skipping out on the hard work of cooking food you don’t like, driving to parties you don’t want to be at, and wrapping presents by the dozen you don’t care about.
Who said Christmas had to be all work and no play for grown-ups, but all play and no work for kids?
Give yourself permission to do things the easier way – the lighter way – this year.
To ditch the expectations (yes, all of them!) and just go along for the ride.
If there was nothing you had to do – if it was up to your mood each winter evening – what would you choose to do?
Bake?
Attend?
That’s what you want to focus on.
The rest? It’ll keep – for someone else, some other year.
What are you skipping this winter season?
