During the holiday season from the time November starts and the Thanksgiving plans begin until the few days after New Year’s Day, many people carry an increased amount of stress.
Today consider taking a step back and laughing out loud. Take it from Old St. Nick who has a laugh that stems from his belly!
Laughing is known to be the best medicine to decrease stress and also a beauty tip, it takes more muscles to make a frown vs. a smile.
So today laugh at yourself, laugh with your friends and family, and by all means enjoy the Christmas season, the true gift of Christmas is what is inside your heart and that my friend will mean more to anyone than you know.
Have you ever walked into a little mom and pop store and been captivated not by what is in it but in the way it made you feel? Perhaps they have soft lighting, candles, and the friendliness of the staff?
Often we are awakened by scents and tones in a room. Likewise, our home should be the same. During the Christmas season, there are many options that we can use to help make our home friendly, warm, and inviting. If you have different candle scents, you can light a different one periodically depending on the mood you are trying to create. There are pine scented candles to give the scent of a Christmas tree or a cookie scent to give the scent of cookies baking in the oven. Whatever your scent preference is, light a candle and enjoy the calm of the flickering flame.
About halfway through the Christmas season, we reach a point of being so busy that we start to get tired in the middle of the day. Pace yourself, take a nap and enjoy the moment because Christmas comes once a year and if you blink you may miss it. Grab your blanket and sit in front of the tree
to read or listen to music while enjoying a cup of hot cocoa or tea. If you find time every night to wind down, you will enjoy the season longer.
Have you ever baked Christmas cookies? It is a lot of fun right, well for those that can bake them. I know that baking desserts are more of my forte, but the cookie department is another story. I have memories of baking slice and bake and burning them lol! But the fun part is always, of course, eating them and spending that quality time with the kids and your spouse, sister, mother or friend. Make the most of your time with those you love today. Happy baking!!!
What is your favorite Christmas carol? Does it bring back childhood memories of how your family spent Christmas?
Sometimes those days are great when your family was intact, but for others, it is difficult when your memories are of spending time for Christmas in two houses or missing a parent who passed away.
Today as an adult, the memories may come back when you hear that particular song and it can be painful, but an opportunity exists to turn the feelings around.
Volunteering during the holiday season to make a difference at a boys and girl club for children that may be in the same situation can make a difference. The kids that attend may be in the same situation that you were in growing up and having someone sharing Christmas with them, maybe a special gift to them. It is not always about the presents but rather the love that bonds people together. Merry Christmas!
The Christmas season brings out the giving in all of us. This Christmas season consider volunteering your time to something near and dear to your heart. Your help makes a difference to those that can use a cheerful smile and are not able to have as Merry a Christmas due to circumstances in their lives. Today, The Gift of Life a nonprofit organization will be packaging bears and hats for over 200 families that will have babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and are not able to go home for Christmas.
I remember when my son was born 13 weeks premature and how upset I was because I was not able to bring him home and enjoy his first Christmas. But the kind gesture of an anonymous person who gave us an umbrella, a devotion book, and a rattle for our baby uplifted my spirit. It was not about the gifts, it was about the note that was attached, “I know that this is a difficult time not being able to take your baby home for Christmas, but we are here for you and praying for your little miracle.”
From that day on, my husband and I decided that we were going to make a difference and pay it forward. Today we are The Gift of Life, a nonprofit organization that started supporting parents of premature babies and their babies in the NICU. We started with cookies….you too can make a difference…
We could not do what we do without our ladies who knit and crochet from Good Samaritan Village and all over Central Florida and even as far as St Lucia!! These ladies knit and crochet with love and feel very honored to be a part of a baby’s life as they recuperate in teh Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. To learn more about our knitters or join our group please follow them at The Gift of Life Knitters
