De-Stressing the Holidays

Christmas is a wonderful chance to say those things that we think all year but don't ever seem to find the opportunity to say.

Things like: 'Your friendship is important to me.' 'I am so glad that I know you.' 'I cherish the time that we spend together.'

May your Holidays be filled with love and laughter. May you find a little bit of time to sit quietly near your lighted Christmas tree and just enjoy the peace and contentment of the moment.

Clear your mind of the clutter of the day and open the drawer in your mind where you put your list of 'things to do...' and put the lists away for a little while. Let me assure you, the lists will still be there for you to pick up again. But for now, put them away.

Turn on some of your favorite Christmas music. Clear your mind of anything you have to do and just sink into the music. Look at the lights of your tree.... Talk to your God. Tell him something that you are especially grateful for in your life. Thank him for something good in your life. Above all: Keep it simple. If your everyday concerns begin to surface, take a few slow, cleansing breaths. Listen, really listen, to the music that is playing. Sing some of the words, out loud and think of what the words mean.

A few minutes a day in quiet prayer will do wonders for you. Refresh your soul and you will realize the holiday in a different perspective. True Joy should be simple and pure. Not weighed down by making complications in your life.

Make one effort this year to celebrate in a different way. It will make a fresh start to getting your Christmas back on track and under control.

	Make a homemade card for someone. Make it special and personal for just that person by highlighting their interests or using their favorite colors, etc.
	Shop for a gift for a needy child whose name you get from a giving tree at a shopping mall.
	Recruit all your friends to adopt a needy family by calling a local charitable organization and getting an assigned name.
	Write Christmas cards for the residents of a nursing home.
	Or purchase a box of cards for an elderly neighbor or relative and spend the afternoon helping them to send cards to everyone in their address book.
	Set aside an afternoon to bake and decorate sugar cookies with your kids or your nieces and nephews or the little girl that lives next door and always helps you water your flowers in the summertime. Be sure everyone gets to do some of the decorating.
	Buy a sack of shampoo, makeup, deodorant, hand lotion, hair scrunchies and Chapstick and drop them at a homeless shelter or the office of a battered women's shelter.
	Be a volunteer 'Bell Ringer' for the Salvation Army one afternoon.
	Call a church soup kitchen and ask what you can do to help out.

As you can see, the list is endless. Just use your imagination and make it something that you have not routinely done in past years.

Christmas is a Beautiful time of the year, but oddly it is also a stressful time for many people. Don't allow the stress to rule you.

Reach out to try and make Christmas a better time for someone else and you may have a better Holiday as well.....

Now, get out there and Make Merry!

Reflections (written on Christmas Eve morning)