As much as I truly love the holidays, they stress. me. out.
I am the biggest fan of Christmas and everything that comes with it. I love the decorations, lights, holiday music, TV specials, and the smell of pine trees and cinnamon.
What I am not a fan of, is the expectations to have the most perfectly decorated house, buy the perfect gift for every family member, remembering to put the Elf On The Shelf in a different spot each morning – AND it be super creative (those of you with kids and elfs know what I mean), and to have the most beautiful holiday card with my perfectly dressed and smiling children. And you know whose fault that is I feel this way – MINE!! Every day of this December month, I have felt like a chicken with it’s head cut off because I feel like I have to accomplish so many different things before the 25th. It’s almost felt so chaotic and rushed that I almost haven’t been able to enjoy myself.
So here is an awesome recipe for “Holiday Merriness.” See the complete post from Huffington Post HERE.
Recipe for Holiday Merriness
(10-20 minutes of deep breathing)
50 oz. of gratitude
20 oz. of exercise
1 lb. of healthy eating
(preferably raw veggies and salads, skip the sugar and canapés)
3 oz. of alcohol at each holiday party
2 beers during football games
(skip the eggnog and Baileys)
Top it all off with: an infinite amount of mindfulness and service to others.
Stir together ingredients joyfully in your mind and body and allow it to penetrate your spirit.
This blog is one of my responsibilities that I honestly haven’t had time to “play” with makeup or create tutorials to help my readers with, and that pressure I put on myself top of everything else is part of my craziness! So here I am being honest with you all – I apologize if the great makeup posts are few and far between now and next week. But if they don’t come organically and easily into my daily routine, then it just isn’t going to happen. My kids are about to be out of school and I just can’t handle being on my computer the entire time they are home with me on their Christmas break. I need to be able to BE with them, and enjoy them, not a computer. Instagram might be an easier way to go when getting my social media fix! Taking pics of my kids and their Christmas cheer is a good compromise.
So I want to take a step back and realize that the holidays should be more about the family time, celebrating the baby Jesus birth, and my children’s excitement about the big day. I need to push aside the fact that my house is a constant wreck with wrapping paper and pine needles everywhere, and appreciate the fact that at least I HAVE a beautifully decorated tree in my house with presents that still need wrapping.
Do the holidays stress you out? How do you create peace among the chaos?
