Today is Black Friday, when retailers expect us to put them into the financial black for the year. It is the start of the mad rush fondly called “the Holidays,” when the world abandons common sense and spends time and money like there is no tomorrow. And we are expected, even guilted, into going along. Really?
Some years ago, I participated in an activity designed to get a handle on the craziness of the season. We were asked to list everything we had to do between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The list included setting up the tree, decorating inside the house and out, baking (for gifts, for family, for social events), hand-writing and mailing cards, Christmas presents (shopping for, making, wrapping, sending), special cleaning (dirty rugs? that will never do!), holiday events/social events (everyone wants a piece of you for Christmas!), and blanks to fill in other personal or family traditions.
Then we were asked to estimate the time each task would take, add it all up and divided by the number of weeks until the Big Day. I will never forget the stunned look of the face of one of the women at the table: she had just realized that she had added 12 extra hours a week to her already busy schedule! No wonder she was stressed!
Turning back to our lists, we were encouraged to rank the activities A, B or C in importance to ourselves and our families. We quickly saw that we were often wearing ourselves out with traditions that were long past their expiration date. (Home-made lasagna at this season was a definite C. Store-bought lasagna may cost more in money, but was far cheaper in emotional wear and tear.)
I remember the many years I spent the whole month of December angry at everyone. Anger empowers and helps me get things done, but that is not who I want to be, at this time of year … or ever, actually.
So before all the personal, societal, and seasonal madness pulls us under, let’s have a look at our expectations so we can tame the stress that goes with the times. Let’s aim, this year, for a simpler Christmas.
