Do you ever find yourself on autopilot as you plow through your normal schedule to meet deadlines? The last two weeks have been really busy. The end of the semester is always a hectic time for an educator. Once the last grade is entered, when the dust settles, I can feel my body begin to relax.

I remember as a child and teenager many Christmases when I ended up with a cold or the flu. Looking back I think it was my body telling me to slow down. I feel that way now. I have a cold that started to rear its ugly head on Friday. By Saturday I had a headache all day. Sunday I woke up with nasal congestion and a raspy voice. Today I did a few errands and had to take a nap when I got home. I am definitely in the “rest zone.”

Why do we push ourselves so much at this time of the year? Are there things we can do without that won’t have an impact on how much we enjoy our holidays? As I wrote in a previous post, I am not drawn to sending out many Christmas cards this year. It just doesn’t matter as much to me. I have plenty of other things I want to do, like making memories with my daughter and grandson. Will more decorating, card sending, baking, gift buying, or event attending make me happier? No. In most cases doing too much will just make me resentful of being so busy.

I want to enjoy the small things…sharing popsicles while reading picture books, watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas carols while dancing around the living room, wearing a different pair of holiday socks every day, and drinking hot chocolate with a big dollop of whipped cream on top. While I am hoping for a dusting of snow at some point this winter, I know that won’t happen here for Christmas but in the meantime, I can wish. Seeing the joy on my grandson’s face when he opens gifts on Christmas morning is what I want to see. I want to wear my pj’s all day on Christmas because I have nowhere else that I HAVE to be.

I want to slide to the end of December with no regrets. January is the start of another year. A time to begin anew. Will I make any resolutions? I doubt it but who knows?

And, when the holidays are over and the dust settles I want to be able to smile as I remember that I had control over how I celebrated this year. I wrote the story of my Christmas. And, that is enough for me.