One Week Warning: Thanksgiving

The Holidays are here!

Happy, happy, joy, joy! or is it more like, Boil, boil, toil and trouble?

Either way, in one week it will be Thanksgiving, and in a heartbeat, it will be 2016. In between will be a blur of red and green, silver bells, gingerbread, eggnog, consumption, conundrums, wrapping, assembly, dissonance, carols, exhaustion, perfection, failure, and well, the list is endless.

But what about JOY?

What about PEACE?

The hustle and bustle of the holidays is wonderful. It is also terrible. It’s easy to forget that duality from the vantage point of anticipation. Right now we are living in a world of images: memories of the past and projections of the future that make us feel like all will be merry and bright.

Except, the school just created another December fundraiser. Six invitations arrived in the mail yesterday. There seem to be mass shortages of babysitters and canned pumpkin. Our house is crammed to the rafters and shrinking by the minute. I think I gained 3 pounds in Halloween candy and birthday cake. My face is smiling, but my chest is constricting.

Brain says, You don’t have the time and money to pull it all off.

Heart says, You don’t have the energy or desire to pull it all off.

Spirit says, Stop. Just stop.

How many years have you ignored your brain, your heart, and your spirit?

I don’t want to be a killjoy about The Holidays; in fact, I’m trying to resurrect Joy and Peace from the wreckage of our current celebrations. Our culture has changed so much in the last few years, stripping holidays of meaning and value, while at the same time adding price tags and expectations.

Right now is the time to stop, take a breath, and make deliberate choices about how to celebrate. Invite the idea of mindfulness into this season of abundance, salvation, and new beginnings. Listen to what you already know in your bones: things have to change. Find your way back to peace and you will be met by joy.

I promise.

To help your holidays be full of joy, check out my new ebook: EnJOY the Holidays: Turn Holiday Stress Into Holiday Cheer. It’s just $2.99. It is now available on Amazon, ibooks (in app purchase), Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and many boutique ebook retailers.