Simple Tips for a Delightful Holiday Part 1 of Mind / Body / Spirit / Space

With just a little awareness and focus on what you really want, you can be breezy and elegant throughout your Holidays AND have more fun than you thought possible.

If harried and hurried is not making you happy (sometimes it is a LOT of fun to be excited and moving fast), this list will give you a few ideas to add some joy, time and to your Holidays and life. 

MIND

  1. PLANNING YOUR DAY:  Rather than stress about the to do list for tomorrow before bed, think about how you would LIKE the next day to begin, refreshed, happy and eager to enjoy life.  When you awaken, do it again:  at the beginning of the day (or any event) rewrite the script…see it going smoothly and visualize effortless enjoyment.  You can actually change your whole experience just by reprogramming your thought patterns.  You begin to draw to you the things that you need.  It seems magical, but “Any sufficiently advanced technology is initially indistinguishable from magic.”(anon)   Write the script for your day, see yourself beautiful, happy, receiving help and compliments, giving joy that is easily accepted–then, like a sweet smelling flower, hold the feelings.  You will be amazed.  I promise.
  1. PRIORITIZE EVENTS AND EFFORTS:  Make a list of all potential holiday events and activities.  Which ones bring you most joy?  Most Peace?  Most return on your time and energy investment?  Saying “NO” to things is not going away from those you love or respect, it is an act of personal power.  You’ll have much more to give when you are fully centered, poised and present.  You will be giving yourself and the world a precious gift…You.
  1. MAKING A LIST:  When you make your daily list: build in time slots for rest and for fun.  Think about the top 3 things that will either bring you most joy, make your life easiest or move you in the direction of either.  If you accomplish even one of them you can give yourself a High-Five. When scheduling your day, allow 15 minutes every 3-4 hours for unexpected things like phone calls, store jaunts, or just seeing a friend you didn’t expect.
  1.  OUT-SOURCE & DELEGATE:  Your most precious resource is your time and feeling nature.  We don’t do well things we don’t like to do or things we don’t know how to do.  Decide where you want to spend you.  When you actually look at the amount of time you spend on a task, you may be surprised that your hourly rate is somewhere near 8 cents per hour…at least it’ll be less than minimum wage.  I decided to hire someone to put up my outdoor Christmas Lights and I directed the show.  I wanted to spend my Holidays at home–not in the hospital from a ladder fall.  I checked on the progress and then did what I like to do:  bake cookies and sip eggnog.  Decide what you really, really love to do, do that. And for goodness sake: delegate…once and for all and let it go.  You might be surprised how well things actually do go.

    Adding space to your schedule will allow for the Luxuries to Emerge
  1. KEEP LUXURY TIME AND FUN ON YOUR PRIORITY LIST:  Every day schedule and do something that will enliven your Spirit.  (After all, it’s not called the “Rat Race of Christmas”…).   A warm cup of your favorite tea, saying NO to that extra load of laundry, looking for the morning star, smiling at yourself in the mirror.  Schedule some corn-y old fun: : I guarantee it will be those memories that make you smile.

Part 1  Mind            Part 2  Body             Part 3  Spirit           Part 4  Space