The Christmas that I was 15, my father printed a quotation in the front of a book that he gave me: “If fate should down you, just get up and take another cuff…. and grin.” It has been my motto ever since.
A couple of years back, a friend and I went on a cycling vacation in the Yukon Territory of Canada. We had an amazing time. So much so that I scheduled to repeat the experience with my partner.
It took a year to plan. I trained hard, paid a rather large sum of money to get there. And for a variety of reasons 125 kilometers into the trip, we stopped cycling. I was a little angry and very disappointed at first. But pretty soon, we’d come up with a Plan B and the vacation was salvaged. I had to re-evaluate my priorities, swallow a little of my pride and looked forward to the new picture.
It’s what I do when “fate” gets me down. Except for one very notable exception, and that’s Christmas.
Possibly that is because Christmas started for us when we were children, and we’ve never understood Christmas as an adult. We have this idea that if we get the right gift, have the right food and interact with our family in the right way, everything will be fulfilled. It’s no surprise that when Tokii asked, women had a far higher expectation of then perfect Christmas than men.
Regardless, every year, part way through the day, I feel disappointed. I can blame it on the gifts or something else, but the truth is that it’s much deeper. It’s at the core of my spirit and if I’m going to solve it, then I have to spend some time in reflection about what I truly want from this one day.
THAT’S IT!
It’s just ONE DAY, one day in an entire year that somehow I have convinced myself needs to be better than all the other days. How can one day possibly compete with all the amazing things in my life? How can one day trump every time my grandson asks to blow my whistle in exchange for a kiss? How can one day trump the hike and picnic around a fire that I enjoyed with my daughter and her family today?
Contemplating what you feel and how you wish to feel is a form of Cognitive-Behavioural therapy (CBT) and has been proven to assist in changing thought and behavior patterns that affect us negatively. So if you’re feeling a little sad about how things turned out, have a cup of tea (or rum and eggnog) and take a bit of time by yourself to remember all the amazing days you had this year. Let that be the Christmas gift you give yourself… and maybe you can share a gift worth more than gold, with your partner this Christmas holiday.
Play DiscoveryGame “Your Amazing Year” here.
If you’re looking for some more Christmas Articles, you can find themhere!
