Last year after Christmas, I wrote a list of things to remember for this Christmas.
Today I pulled it out to remind myself what to watch out for this Christmas:
1. Don’t get sucked into the world’s view of Christmas. Christmas will never be cinema-land perfect and trying to make it that way will just end up making you feel exhausted and disappointed.
2. Don’t over decorate. Just because it looks Christmasy, doesn’t mean it needs to be displayed.
3. Don’t overeat. Have a plan for getting through the holidays without gaining weight.
4. Remember “stuff” fades, memories last.
5. Some people won’t have a gift to unwrap at Christmas. Think about who they are and give them a wrapped gift.
6. Some people need groceries. Put a bag on someone’s porch or place a grocery store gift card in their mailbox anonymously.
7. Give people fruit, a waffle mix, a chicken pot pie or some new dish towels instead of sugary treats.
8. Remember that on Christmas morning, there will be a lot of crumpled wrapping paper, empty boxes, and ribbons and a few small piles of what, in the end, is just stuff. Everyone will take their stuff, assimilate it with their other stuff, and it will become ordinary in a matter of minutes. What will linger will be the moments of closeness, laughter, and the time we took to remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.
6 thoughts on “Christmas Wisdom”