Bringing Enjoyment Back into the Holidays

The Holidays can be a wonderful as well as stressful time. As a society, we tend to put so much pressure, expense, and unrealistic expectations on ourselves for the mad dash to celebrate a few days of the year.

For many years, the holiday season was a major source of stress for me. The commercialism, cost, and unyielding expectations I had of myself for everything to be just right smothered my feelings of good tidings with each approaching year.

My stomach would churn as soon as I saw the first Christmas decorations displayed in stores long before Thanksgiving. Why I wondered, did it have to be this way? What happened to my Christmas spirit?

I found myself becoming a scrooge and recoiling at anything Christmas. I started to despise the five most common words that seem to prevail right after Thanksgiving ended, “Are you ready for Christmas?”

And then, something happened.

I flipped the switch.

I can’t give an exact time or place it happened. I think I just decided to open my heart and surrender.

I didn’t want to become one of those grumpy old women who, after years of people pleasing and self-denial, forgot what it is like to feel the joy of the Holidays.

Flipping the switch meant bringing the holiness back into the Holidays without putting pressure on myself to follow the programs or subscribe to the commercialism.

I never understood why we had a designated “season of giving” or why we must put special meaning on one period of time over another. I decided to take my holidays back and not allow the commercialism or expectations of the holidays to affect my heartfelt love and devotion to Divinity.

I chose to live my life as if Christmas were every day. For real.

I proclaimed that the Spirit of Christmas for me meant that I have permission to celebrate life, love, giving, and service every day, not just a few days that seem to come in a flurry of unrealistic expectations and exits with a sigh of relief.

To me, Christmas means being present with the sacred connection between my heart and the Divine Universe every day. I honor the Spirit of Christmas within me. I rejoice in the gifts that unfold in my life as it showers me with joy, gratitude, clarity, peace, purpose, abundance, and reverence for the Divine Creator.

The Spirit of Christmas is alive and well in me as my daily life becomes a living prayer. Do I still celebrate the holidays? Yes!

Do I still get triggered when I see the Christmas decorations put out before Halloween? You bet I do. I just know how to flip that switch within me, and so can you.

I changed the channel of my awareness away from how things appear without subscribing to the commercialism or following the programs of conditioning.

I left the unrealistic expectations and stress about timelines, perfection, and presents in the past because Christmas is every day for me.

I now celebrate the Holidays on my terms. What I look forward to the most is the quality time I spend with my loved ones. The laughter, the love, the food, the hugs. The presents are just a nice bonus and surprise if they occur.

I love giving gifts, but I enjoy doing this at meaningful and purposeful times throughout the year, including Christmas, if I choose to.

During the Holiday season, I have complete freedom from the pressure of programs from years of conditioning and holiday commercialism. I now look forward to random people asking me if I am ready for Christmas. I look them in the eyes with a big smile and love in my heart and proclaim, “YES, I am ALWAYS ready for Christmas!”

May the Spirit of Christmas enlighten you with the holiness of the Holidays every day. May your daily life be filled with all the joy, gratitude, clarity, peace, purpose, and abundance that the Divine Universe has to offer.

If you need to flip your switch and take your holidays back, may you do so knowing that the Universe loves and supports you. You, too, can unplug from the programs and unsubscribe from the commercialism if you so choose.

What you focus on and how you imagine and feel will flourish in your life. Allow the Spirit of Christmas to be your guiding light as the holiness of the Holidays becomes your daily life.

I hope this article helps you remember that your life is a living prayer and that the Spirit of Christmas can be alive and well within you every day.

With Love,

💗 Shannon MacDonald