If I see one more article about holiday stress I think I may scream!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I’m caught in the trap of automatically reacting to something.

Sound familar?

Like everything, the “holiday season” is but an illusion.  Did you have any say into this idea that from Halloween until New Year’s that you were supposed to run around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to buy the ”right” gifts, food, decorations..and so on and so on???

Did anyone ask your input into whether Dec 25 was a better day for you than say, August 2?  

And how about the turkey and the pig?  Did anyone ask their opinion about being served up in excess come the end of the year? 

Well, no one asked me.  So for me and my family, we do what we choose.

My father died on what’s known in this country as “black Friday.”  On the day that millions of people are trampling each other to spend money they don’t have on stuff that no one really NEEDS, I was saying good-bye to my Daddy.  I was 24 and got my first lesson in perspective and choice.

Had I waited until Christmas to buy something for my dad or show up at the house ’cause we “had” to,  I’d have been S.O.L.  Christmas didn’t come for Daddy that year. 

Why do we wait until some arbitrary day on the calendar to show appreciation?  Because the retailers tell us to?

I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day–my husband and I tell each other every day how much we love and appreciate the other.

I don’t get wrapped up in birthdays or anniversaries–the next one isn’t always promised, so we celebrate our family in little ways.  Dinners out at someone’s favorite restaurant, gifts “just because”, vacations and short get-a-ways, because life’s simply too short.

Showing love and appreciation doesn’t require good credit or lots of cash.  Nor do you prove your love by the amount of stress and strain that you put forth in creating the “perfect” meal or holiday party or buying your kid something because “everyone else has it.”

The only person asking you to do, do, do, is YOU.  If you didn’t lift a finger or spend a dime, it wouldn’t make you any less the magnificent creation that you are. 

If what you are doing doesn’t create peace–STOP.  Otherwise, please keep your complaining about how stressful this time of year is to yourself.

Your stress is self-inflicted. 

Choose peace.