Preparedness and “The Holidays”
By Gypsy Trailblazer
Friends, welcome back to our little corner of virtual space. We are now entering that magical time we call, “The Holidays.” As we pick up the pace with planning, preparing, and managing, we naturally start to shift priorities and focus on what we think is more important.
Since I was born and raised in a major, northern city, I remember too clearly the crunch and pinch of the holiday season. The pressure and stress of being places, doing things, and presenting “tokens” of appreciation can turn the “most wonderful time of the year” into a personal war zone. However, I can share that living the holiday life in suburban and rural areas only spares you the stress of waging the battle of securing personal space. Everyone still feels the pinch and the crunch of obligations.
We love our family, we love our friends, and we love sharing time with them. Time is relative; when spent with those we enjoy being around it is not enough, and yet when spent with those that irritate us, it is far too much…
Priorities and time are forever intermingling in our lives. “Too much to do and not enough time” we all grumble. Yet, when the holidays arrive, we simultaneously embrace yet resent all the extra things we do in a very small window of time.
With preparedness, we try to anticipate and manage as much as we can to increase our ability to survive on every level. Whether you realize this or not, the holiday season is a lesson in preparedness. Many of us, especially woman, represent the epitome of preparedness in this instance. We start preparing months before the holidays arrive. Whether you start early or procrastinate, you are still mentally preparing. What do I need to buy? What do I need to bring? Where am I going? How will I get there? When do I want to leave? What will the weather by like? How am I going to deal with Suzy Sourpuss and Charlie Complainer this year? If there is a travel disruption, what is my alternate route? When will I have time to clean the house and cook for everyone? How will I keep up all my day-to-day responsibilities? How will take care of all this, and still have the presence of mind to enjoy the moments I want to cherish? We are all inherently a wealth of preparedness knowledge, having all these planning skills and bits of information already at our fingertips.
Goodness I just got my own blood pressure up, let’s all take a deep breath… and we are going to breathe a few more times and ask for the Grace to remind us to cherish every moment of the good, and the grace to be patient with Suzy, Charlie, the traffic, the weather, and ourselves. In these moments, please appreciate yourself and all your inherent abilities, and be thankful that you are already prepared. We both know you are going to successfully survive this preparedness event we call “the Holidays.”
See you next time!
Gypsy
Bravo Echo Out,
