Don’t let all the holiday get to you.
I notice people getting nervous and even fearful about the upcoming festivities, not a great approach to what is supposed to be a joyous time of year, in my humble opinion. I see people keeping so busy that they can’t even think joyfully during this joyful time. Is it another ploy by marketing firms to get you to spend? I don’t know for sure what is actually behind it all, but really I think…
all is well and good if you have the funds to buy the world for your loved ones— as long as there is also family time and time for being in nature. Yeah, I know, “nature” is so, new age sounding. But what’s the alternative then? Being exclusively inside buildings with no natural light touching your body except when you walk to your car? And I know way too many people who don’t even get that. Nowadays, you can get in your car in your garage, drive directly into a parking garage at your job and walk through underground walkways to your company’s entrance…inside and busy all the time almost as a policy. Where is your joy going to come from, presents?
It takes great courage to stand in opposition to the crazy making behaviors of this time of year. But this kind of courage will free you from fear of not being good enough, or not having enough and will grant you the courage to talk the truth and live, for once, in your heart and experience nature again. It sounds too simple, I know, but please…
Take a walk, no, REALLY. So many people I know believe they don’t have the time. I can’t even get some of my clients to literally walk outside their building for 30 seconds. I am not joking. I meet with them several times a week by skype and I ask them each time we speak. I actually had to tell one guy to go outside while I waited on the phone! It was the only way to get him to do it and he’s not a recluse either. He’s a big wig from a large company who claimed he just didn’t have the time. But that one rebellious act got him started on the road to living his life slightly differently and he’s been singing my praises ever since. So funny, silly even, I know, but are you also letting the whole time thing and the too busy thing and the I gotta buy everything thing, getting you away from relaxing a little and not having any fun?
I’m not talking about carnival ride fun either, I mean fun as in happy inside fun, joyous feeling fun, deep inside fun.
If you are not feeling it, PLEASE go outside, find a tree or a shrub and TOUCH it, really touch it; feel the roughness of its bark or the sharpness of its winter plumage. Smell it. Brush your cheek against it. Sit at a park bench where you can view squirrels and other wildlife; dress warmly if you live in the northeast and enjoy the sensation of your body temperature adjust to the weather. Experience it.
And if you have kids and are outside all the time instead of working in an office, next time you go outside with them, REALLY be outside with them. Let them be the role model and follow their lead for a change.
Is this too airy-fairy for you? Tough. Do it anyway. You may have to do it a couple of times to experience (or ALLOW yourself) the feeling of joy start to return. But I promise, when you let go of the need to do it all and be it all and have it all and give it all; when you feel the winter air on your face and breathe the smells of dirt and leaves and when you feel the rock or shell or greenery, and let the feelings they arouse enter your consciousness, then you will begin to have a little fun. I don’t know about you but I’d like to have a little fun during the holiday. Let me know how it goes for you.
shakeupyourlife 