Do you sometime find yourself thinking the holiday season — the music, the traffic, the shopping, the stress — has become awfully noisy? There is so much going on — too much — this season at work, in the coffee shops, on the road that it is hard to escape, relax, and enjoy a little quiet time. The Christmas chaos invades our everyday life in so many adverse ways, it is often hard to enjoy the spirit of the season.
All that holiday noise is not too dissimilar from the chatter that goes on in our heads. Each of us has so much to celebrate, enjoy and appreciate about our lives, yet we allow all that head chatter to interrupt and distract us from a peaceful celebration or find time to enjoy the quiet enough to appreciate our accomplishments.
This holiday season take a moment to appreciate all you have. Celebrate your family, your friends, your fans. Give yourself credit for being a light in someone’s life. Remind yourself that you have had a good year and you are please with all you accomplished. Give yourself the gift of contentment every single morning for the rest of this month. Remind yourself you have worked hard and have given a lot to yourself and to others this year.
If, in celebrating the gift of you, you feel you haven’t done all you could, or been all you wanted, or have farther to go — that is okay. It does not mean you have not had a good year. All those thoughts are an internal encouragement to improvement in those areas. These are not failings. They are challenges. They are a call to action. Embrace the opportunity and view that call to action begins from a place that says:
“I have had a great year, accomplished so much and I am looking forward to the opportunity to build on it.”
The pressure to get things done, fight the noise and crowds, and work through the chatter — this is not a spirit of love, giving, or hope. You don’t like that part of the holiday season and you certainly don’t like it when it is between the ears. You can control the noise. Celebrate the gift of you and all you have done and be inspired to continue sharing the gift in every way you possibly can!
