It's here - that crazy Christmas season

It's here -that crazy Christmas season. I thought I would manage this year to experience a quiet joyful lead-up to Christmas, then a few days of skiing with my family and then a peaceful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I was wrong. I am ill with the seasonal affliction of too much. I have too much work. There is a contract signing and press release for a project I've been working on, with people flying in from overseas. I have a final exam to give and then grade on the same day as the press conference. I have friends coming in to town, wanting to have dinner. I have a full house and I need to clean and cook (which can be fun, but only when there is time). I still have some gifts to buy and wrap. And, there are friends that I want to see who are equally busy and I worry that we won't manage to see one another until the second week of January. And I haven' t even mentioned that I want to go skiing, climbing, and to yoga and can't find time.

So, in this hodge-podge of things, what must really happen? I must breathe everyday. The good thing is taking breaths does come naturally. Taking deep breaths doesn't, but at least I am aware that I should allow my lungs to do their work . I must sleep. That will happen. What I can't control is whether I wake up at 4:00 am with my brain churning. What I can control is how I react if I wake. Let it be. The days will pass and Christmas will come and I will be ready. I may not have the cleanest house ( I never have). I will have the exams graded ( I always do). The trees will be decorated. Lights may or may not be up outside. I will see the people I really want to, and I will be gentle with myself as I make choices, to see or not to see, to do or not to do. What I want most for Christmas is to be present with those who I love.

Namaste,
Ginny