It's Sunday again.....thank you God....and this is the first day that it really feels like Fall.....at least in South Florida! Fall is the beginning of the lead-up to the Holidays and it is so exciting to know that most people are going to be nicer to each other pretty soon......too bad we can't have that holiday feeling all year. That would certainly be nice, now wouldn't it?
Gommy thinks that the real reason everyone (well most everyone) is nicer around this time of year is that most people are finally on the same page. There is actually a feeling of happy anticipation in the air....a feeling of great expectations.....a feeling that friends and family are really going to get along this year and have a wonderful time together. It reminds Goms about the saying, "Lessons come from our journey, not our destination." (sic) We seem to be in this self-imposed and/or handed down anticipation of 'visions of sugarplums'..... and that really is what we all do want....but somehow it gets all murky when we get to the 'destination'.
Maybe this year we can try to remember that a 'happier you' actually starts and depends on YOU. Maybe you have to come to the 'party' with a different perspective this year if you truly want a happy, merry time. Remember that it is easier to change yourself than to change others. Now, Goms doesn't mean you have to change the core of you....just try to change the way you respond to the situations and celebrations and all the people involved. If you go thinking you are going to have a terrible time because sister Sue is going to be there and she always hogs the show.... or your mom or your mother-in-law is going to show disapproval about how you discipline your kids, or grandma is going to give you some 'old-fashioned' gift that you hate..... you will probably be right....But you can adjust your attitude before you get there and make yourself 'transparent', so it allows any of the unpleasant feelings or unwarranted advice that you usually grab and take 'inside' you ... pass right through you... and voila'....you won't be affected at all. It is a choice. That reminds Goms of a joke about gifts....someone said, "Remember, it's not the gift that counts....it's the receipt." Funny, huh?
Sometimes expecting everything to be perfect is the reason for the letdown after the holidays. Nothing and no one is perfect....remember; 'Perfect' is the enemy of 'Good Enough' and good enough should be GOOD ENOUGH! We are Blessed in so many ways in our life that to be disappointed by an occasion or a gift is really just being a spoiled brat.....sorry, but that is the truth...
So......boys and girls, how about trying to look forward to this holiday season and realize everything won't be 'perfect'....but it can be pretty darn 'good enough'......Start working and practicing on being a 'happier you' right now and you might actually have a nicer holiday this year.....
Hugs & Mush- Goms
