What a conundrum! We race against the clock so we can enjoy our time off. We do more now, hoping to do less later. We look forward to loosing the schedule, but sometimes end up feeling like we’ve somehow lost ourselves too.
These are clear symptoms of the Doing Disease, known to afflict whole families and nations, particularly during those portions of the year we expect to epitomize family togetherness in a mere week or even 24 hours; AKA ‘holidays.’
ENERGYPARENTS excel at “being” equally as well as “doing.” To ensure a nice balance for widespread holiday happiness, we could…
Choose to DO less and BE more this holiday season. What would happen if you crossed off half of your to-do list? If the answer is, “I’d probably be able to enjoy doing the remaining half, and actually be present in the process,” you know what to do!
Say “NO” to things that add stressing and “YES” to things that add blessing. ENERGYPARENTS know kids excel when limits are clear. The principle holds true for everybody. “No,” while at first a little shocking, works really well with adults too.
Don’t DO it all yourself in advance. PLAN to let little children help with baking and crafting, even though it’ll take longer and be messier. Get it on film and you could have the next No.1 YouTube or ” America’s Funniest Home Video.”
TASK older children with assignments, a budget and decision-making authority on family games, events and entertainment. It’ll awaken them to how hard it is to please everybody, and how nice it is to be appreciated for one’s efforts when you support their decisions.
Holidays can turn into a whole lotta doing at the emotional and financial expense of just being. But the best doing never makes up for a lack of being, especially when it’s a child who’s doing the tallying.
Being is not the antithesis of doing. It’s full of connecting – with yourself, with others, with nature. It’s receiving every moment as if it’s a personally addressed invitation: “Please give us the present of your presence.” Now, who could refuse to give or receive such an extraordinary gift?
To Your Magnificent Presence!