Holiday IntentionsWritten by Lynn Cutts
Over course of last 2,000 or so years, we've managed to cram our three biggest holidays into space of about six weeks. We don't spread them out so that we can savor each event. Instead, we choose a time of year in which weather is likely to be lousy (at least in Northern Hemisphere), and cram parties, travel, feasts, and loads of stress all into a short period of time. No wonder holiday season exhausts our pocketbooks, our patience, our diets, our will power, and ourselves. Please don't get me wrong. I love holidays. I was (and in some ways, still am) "queen" of holiday over-doing. Every year I had to outdo year before: more decorations, more parties, more gifts, more baking, more food, more guests, more chocolate . . . you get picture. And then I noticed that harder I tried to improve season with all this running around and doing and stuff, worse it got. It made my entire family cranky, stressed, and miserable. It didn't take long before we all began to dread very season we used to love. And then it took a couple of years more before I figured out problem: holidays aren't about doing; they're about being. Once I realized that, and changed my focus, we started to enjoy holidays again. This is a different slant from "giving not getting" spiel we hear, or heard, as we were growing up. My old, stressed, frantic holidays were all about giving, giving as much as I could, until there was nothing left for me. "Being vs. doing" goes beyond that. You can still give, give, give, or get, get, get all you want. It's intention behind giving and getting (or partying, or traveling, or baking or. . .) that we're looking at here. So that's what I want to address: setting an intention for holidays. Simply put, setting an intention is about deciding what it is you really want from something, like a vacation, a dinner party, or even today. Depending upon situation, you might ask, "What do I want to take away from this?" or "What is purpose of this?" In our case, "What do I really want to get from this holiday season?" I don't mean "a red Lamborghini Diablo", or "a new refrigerator," although I wouldn't turn those down. I don't even mean something as practical and essential as ten pounds of chocolate. Nor am I asking you to examine real meaning of Christmas, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanza, rampant commercialism, or whatever it is you celebrate. Instead, I want you to connect with that deeply personal, being part, and decide what you want from there.
| | Run Your Own Race - At Your Own PaceWritten by Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE
On Thanksgiving Day, dawn spills over Dana Point Harbor where thousands of runners gather for annual Turkey Trot. The largest holiday race in California beckons folks of all ages, sizes, shapes, and abilities. Waiting at starting line for 10-K, I talk to a Dad and his 7 year-old daughter. Around me, I hear bravado talk about marathons, triathlons, hard bodies and zippo fat content. Thankfully, I spy silver haired folks with knee braces, a young couple with babies in jogging strollers and runners decked in costumes ranging from Santa Claus to Elvis Presley. Running in a gold polyester jump suit, and pompadour wig while carrying a boom box blaring Elvis tunes will be some trick. Me-I just want to finish. The gun goes off and we all inch our way under balloon arch. Runners jostle for position, elbowing their way to break into stride. Me-I just grin at new day and feel righteous for having gotten up and down to event. By mile two, my righteousness turns to dismay as seven year-old passes me by. Elvis has already made turn way before me and I am lagging behind a woman who must have 10 years and 20 pounds on me. The sense of competitiveness heats up and so does my pace. I forget that I already run two miles down to Harbor and have 4.2 miles left to go. The runners around me set my pace.
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