What a busy time of year this is!

Thoughts to Ponder – December 8, 2015

 “The best way to create more free time is to take it….

There isn’t anyone who can give it to you. Not even me.”

The Universe*

 What a busy time of year this is! We are bustling around baking cookies for this event or going to a concert. We’re trying to finish our holiday shopping, or even hoping to start it in the next few days. We’re cleaning the house for guests and putting up holiday decorations.

We worry if we should say, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” to be more inclusive of other faiths. We examine our budgets to learn what we can buy this year and who to buy for. We may just shop using our credit cards, having decided to defer our worries until January.

Whatever we are doing, we are often doing it until we are stressed. One song tells us, “It’s the hap-happiest time of the year.” Let’s be honest. Is that what we’re really feeling? Many of us are feeling stressed. We need a breather. Life isn’t going to hand us a day-off from work that most of us waste and use it to accomplish other tasks. We need to decide that we will take some time for ourselves. It doesn’t need to be a day of lounging at the spa. That would be nice though, wouldn’t it?

Many stores play holiday music to get us in the shopping mode. We can pause in the toys, televisions or tool section to listen to “Carol of the Bells” and breathe easier for a few minutes. Three minutes of listening and breathing will refresh us more than we can imagine. If we try, we can find time to read a few pages in a book or walk around the neighborhood quietly and enjoy our neighbors’ decorations.

Oprah summarized this thought when she said, “Whether you have a week to laze around or a 20-minute break between errands, I promise it is possible to relax.”**

This is true. We have to be willing to delay a task, turn off the television, computer and phone, go for a stroll, go to bed earlier, or make time to eat breakfast. The list goes on. We all have our own personal stressors and relaxers. Pick a relaxer that works for you and enjoy it.

Spirit,

You designed us to live in balance for a good reason, yet most of us have too many stressors in our lives. Thank you for giving us tasks to keep us busy and time to relax and regenerate our minds and bodies so we can live in balance.

And, so it is.

* theuniverse@tut.com, November 25, 2015

**O, the Oprah Magazine, July 2015

© by Sharon D. Dillon, December 8, 2015

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Author of “Twins! Oh no!,” one of 14 stories in The Book of Mom: Reflections of Motherhood with Love, Hope and Faith, published by booksyoucantrust.com. Available in print and e-format at Amazon.com.