It's all too easy to let Christmas pass you by without truly enjoying and appreciating its magic. Everything leads up to that one special day, and then, within the blink of an eye, it's gone, vanished until next year.
All the stressing over shopping, card sending, cooking and what to wear for the Christmas party. And then there's feeling ill from your seasonal cold and while trying to meet those end of year work deadlines.
Instead of really enjoying Christmas, we end up living outside of the moment, lost in doing the next important thing to prepare for the big day. And then there's thinking about what the New Year will bring: will the dollar tumble further, will my job be secure, will the kids make their grades, will Grandma make it through another year!
The older we get the more difficult it becomes to rekindle that child-like magic at Christmas, to enjoy every step of the season.
But hey, Christmas is for kids, right?
Wrong. It's for you too, no matter how old you are.
So as we lead up to the festive period, take time to rekindle that magic. Take a step back and get off that train that drags you through Christmas so fast you barely have time to sit down, take the weight off your feet and enjoy being a part of this wonderful season.
Play Christmas songs each morning, kiss your partner under the mistletoe, roll around in the snow, buy yourself something you've always wanted and snuggle up with a hot chocolate by the fire and forget about work.
By doing small, simple, Christmassy-type things, you'll create a snowball (pun intended) effect that quickly gathers speed and immerses you properly in the magic of Christmas – for the first time in years, I suspect.
Christmas isn't just the 25th of December; the day you make everyone else smile and ensure it all goes smoothly. It should be a month's worth of bringing the mind home from all the year's stresses, ups and downs, fears, uncertainties and niggles.
Take a deep breath and enjoy Christmas to its fullest potential. And know this: everything will have a natural way of working itself out in the New Year, no matter how much you worry about it.
So let it all go, be in the moment and have a Merry “Mindful” Christmas 🙂
