How Do You Approach The Holidays?
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I've struggled a bit with this article trying to put my thoughts
into words. How do you talk about something that has so many
sides to it like holidays? This time of year can be a lot of fun
but it can also be filled with a lot of stress.
With the holidays fast approaching (I mean they are on us now)
things start to really heat up and move quickly. If we're not
really careful we can get into "doing mode" and believe
performance is all that really counts.
You know the get it done, keep going, and get more done, kind of
thing.
To help me with this article today, I went to dictionary.com to
get a general definition of holiday:
1. A day free from work that one may spend at pleasure,
especially a day on which custom or the law dictates a halting
of general business activity to commemorate or celebrate a
particular event. 2. a religious feast day, a holy day. 3.
Chiefly British, A vacation. Often used in the phrase on holiday
It seems that the first two definitions are really appropriate
for many of us during this time in Western Culture. There are a
number of holidays celebrated during December that fall into the
"day of leisure...a halting of general business activity to
commemorate or celebrate a particular event" or that fall into
the "holy day" category.
But I know that for me I need to be really careful or the actual
day of the holiday is not so much a "day of leisure" as it is a
"day of recovery" because I've been way out of balance getting
to the day. Or maybe worse, it is a day filled with so much
activity; celebratory meals, company, gifts etc that the day is
a blur of activity rather than a day of enjoyment.
My new mantra "awareness is curative" helped us to feed 18
people Thanksgiving Day. And in addition we were able to enjoy
everything that went into the day including the planning, buying
and preparing. The trick was to fill each day with lots of STOPs
to get a handle on where we were and check to see if things were
on course.
If you're not familiar with the notion of STOP it's out of "The
Inner Game of Work" by Tim Gallwey and it goes like this:
(S)tep back from the situation
(T)hink about what is going on
(O)rganize your thoughts (get in touch with you)
(P)roceed again (maybe slowly) in the chosen direction
These STOPs allowed both Tom and I to stay organized and to
really plan the event from menu to market, to prep, to table and
to serve. But it did something else for me that was much more
important.
The STOPs allowed me to stay in touch with why I was doing the
dinner and what my bigger goal was. When I started to be a bit
agitated or worried over things the STOPs provided a wonderful
way to check in with myself and keep on track both emotionally
as well as functionally.
Here is another big piece...I walked away from work completely
guilt free. The STOPs helped me stay on course to complete what
was necessary in the office. That way I was completely free from
my business obligations while preparing for the event.
So what does all this have to do with "awareness is curative?"
If I can stay on top of why I'm doing something and how it
relates to my bigger purpose then I have all the internal
momentum I need to see things through. My desire is taking me
through the steps rather than some outside sense of obligation.
And if my desire is pushing me forward it's pretty easy to stay
on track. Why? 'Cause it's my desire - in other words, I want to
do it.
All of this is to say...give yourself permission to enjoy the
time you take off from work. If you don't get a project
completed before it's time to switch gears, just leave yourself
good notes so you can pick you where you left off and give
yourself permission to leave it. (Those good notes will help a
lot to leave the project plus you'll love them when you come
back!) Then you move into your holidays with plenty of time to
accomplish your holiday goals.
Take a moment to reflect on where you are, what you've learned
and where you're headed. Remember this is a time for you to
replenish. But in my opinion what is more important is that it
is a wonderful time to celebrate your life; to celebrate the
incredible miracle of you.