Love The Chaos

My friend Judy said something pretty poignant yesterday. She said: "If you're not thoroughly enjoying the holidays, you are doing something wrong." True true. It's so easy to be stressed right now. Amidst all the holiday madness, work hustle and bustle, daily parenting requirements and travel chaos, I found out last night that my dear darling son has yet another parent-pioneered project added to his list of requirements before vacation, bringing the total this week to four.

I know from experience that I have a few options to handle these many tasks and the ensuing stresses:

Option 1: Blow off anything that causes too much strain (this option served as an experiment I tried many times in high school; it repeatedly failed miserably). Possible outcome: feeling worse than you felt with the initial stress.

Option 2: Deal with all tasks and requirements begrudgingly and inefficiently. Yes, I've done this too. It makes me grumpy. Probable outcome: crappy results and grumpiness.

Option 3: Face the beast head-on and with humor! This would include prioritizing the things that NEED to get done now, while releasing expectations for achieving absolute perfection. Take breaks when we need to and LAUGH. Do our tasks with someone else or with someone else in mind, particularly someone who needs a little boost or is in the midst of serious life challenges. I've got a lot going on, but it all becomes small when I think of my beautiful friend who just had major abdominal surgery to remove prostate cancer. In fact, I think I'll send her a card right now! Possible outcome: a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of power over your stresses!

My son and I worked hard on a school project last night that we planned out and executed with surprising aplomb. I can't wait to see what grade I get on it (that was my running joke all night)! We didn't include every detail we wanted to and it's probably not going to be commissioned by the Guggenheim anytime soon, but he is proud of it and we had a blast together (and still had time for a quick game of hoops).

So, enjoy this time of year. Enjoy it! Savor every moment. Love the chaos. Happy Holidays.