Here we are anticipating the celebration of the holiday season for so many people. I know this time of year can create a lot of stress and uncertainty because we have a tendency to want things to be just right! We want our gatherings to be festive, joyful, and perfect. We want our holiday dinner table to look like Martha Stewart herself hosted the party. We want to show perfection on the outside, even if we are a beautiful mess on the inside. There is no fault in wanting this. We have been socially conditioned from a very early age!!
Here is my guidance to you. Just be yourselves! Love isn't about perfection. It isn't about who created the best dinner table or who gave the best gift. The holiday season is simply about love, kindness, authenticity, and the beauty of a season. This affords us an opportunity to sit with our true self and to embrace the authentic self of others.
Create a holiday season based on your reflective outlook; whatever that may be. If your sugar cookies burned in the oven then they were simply meant to be that way. If your holiday meal is missing something then it simply wasn't meant to be. If your celebration of the season differs this year because family was unable to be together, then use the time to create a new tradition of togetherness. Perhaps you send a GIF and pass it around to each person to enjoy with a message to keep the chain going. I think that would create smiles and a feeling of love and togetherness.
My gift to you, as we celebrate the holiday season, is to love YOU and your imperfect self. You have value. You are amazing. You are exactly who you are meant to be at this exact moment! May you unwrap the gift of loving yourself as much as you love others.
With love from my heart to yours, Happy Holidays!