Feature Article...
How Do
You Approach The Holidays?
I've struggled a
bit with this ezine trying to put my thoughts into words. How
do you talk about something that has so many sides to it like
holidays? This time of year can be a lot of fun but it can
also be filled with huge amounts of stress.
With the
holidays fast approaching (I mean they are on us now) things
start to really heat up and move pretty quickly. If we're not
really careful we can get into that "doing mode" and
believe performance is all that really counts.
You know the get
it done, keep going, get more done, kind of thing.
To help me with
this article today, I went to dictionary.com to get a general
definition of holiday:
-
A day free
from work that one may spend at pleasure, especially a
day on which custom or the law dictates a halting of
general business activity to commemorate or celebrate a
particular event.
-
a
religious feast day, a holy day.
-
Chiefly
British, A vacation. Often used in the phrase on
holiday
It seems that
the first two definitions are really appropriate for many of
us during this time in Western Culture. There are a number of
holidays celebrated during December that fall into the
"day of leisure...a halting of general business activity
to commemorate or celebrate a particular event" as well
as falling into the "holy day" category.
But I know that
for me I need to be really careful or the actual day of the
holiday is not so much a "day of leisure" as it is a
day of recovery because I've been way out of balance getting
to the day. Or maybe worse it is a day filled with so much
activity; celebratory meals, company, gifts etc that the day
is a blurr of activity rather than a day of enjoyment.
My new mantra
"awareness is curative" helped us to feed 18 people
Thanksgiving Day and to enjoy the planning, buying and
preparing going in as well as the day itself. The trick was to
fill each day with lots of STOPs to get a handle on where we
were and if things were on course.
If you're not
familiar with the notion of STOP it's out of "The Inner
Game of Work by Tim Gallwey and it goes like this:
(S)tep
back from the situation
(T)hink about what is going on
(O)rganize your thoughts (get in touch with you)
(P)roceed again (maybe slowly) in the chosen
direction
These STOPs
allowed both Tom and I to stay organized and to really plan
the event from menu to market, to prep, to table and to serve.
But it did something else for me that was much more important.
The STOPs
allowed me to stay in touch with why I was doing the dinner
and what my bigger goal was. So when I started to be a bit
agitated or worried over things, it was a wonderful way to
check in with myself and keep on track both emotionally as
well as functionally.
Here is another
big piece...I walked away from work completely guilt free. The
STOPs helped me stay on course to complete what was necessary
in the office. That way I was completely free from my business
obligations.
So what does all
this have to do with "awareness is curative?" If I
can stay on top of why I'm doing something and how it relates
to my bigger purpose then I have all the internal momentum I
need to see things through. My desire is taking me through the
steps rather than some outside sense of obligation. And if my
desire is pushing me forward it's pretty easy to stay on
track. Why? 'Cause it's my desire - in other words, I want to
do it.
All of this is
to say...give yourself permission to enjoy the time you take
off from work. If you don't get a project completed before
it's time to switch gears, just leave yourself good notes so
you can pick you where you left off and give yourself
permission to leave it. (Those good notes will help a lot to
leave the project plus you'll love them when you come back!)
Then you move into your holidays with plenty of time to
accomplish your holiday goals.
Take a moment to
reflect on where you are, what you've learned and where you're
headed. Remember this is a time for you to replenish. But in
my opinion what is more important is that it is a wonderful
time to celebrate your life.
To celebrate the
incredible miracle of you.
Tom and I are
"on holiday" (as the Brits say it) in Italy through
the New Year.
Regardless of
how you're celebrating this year enjoy!
|
Thank
you Jillian, for making a difference in our entire
team!
