Let Go So You Can Enjoy the Holiday Sh*t Show
It’s that time of year again – the holiday festivities have begun. Bring on another year of decking the halls, trying to find the perfect gift, pulling out the Christmas tree decorations, checking yards and yards of lights all while listening to hours upon hours of holiday music. That’s all wonderful, right? It’s all wonderful until we start watching the endless stream of television commercials showing us the perfect family, around the perfect dinner table, enjoying the perfect meal, in full joy of each other’s company. The kids are behaving perfectly, the dog is waiting patiently, nobody is stressed, and life is, well, pretty much perfect.
I don’t know about you, but my holidays have NEVER been perfect. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t try to make everything perfect! I’ve learned over the years that you have to embrace imperfection and when you do that, you will truly enjoy the holiday sh*t show. Granted, it took me a few years to finally accept that fact! I remember the first year I cooked a turkey, I left the giblet bag inside! Who does that?! I’ve left the house without the cranberry relish and creamed corn because I forgot it in the fridge. And, I’ve left the perfectly formed jello wreath on top of the car which created quite the scene on Interstate 94….
Once I realized that no matter what I did, or how hard I tried to make things perfect, they never would be perfect. Why? Because the holidays (and life) are all about surrounding yourself with people. And I hate to tell you, but people aren’t perfect. Nope. Never will be. We are all just doing our best with what we know. As soon as I let all the expectations, control, etc. and embraced letting things go and unfold, I felt an amazing peace and joy I’d never experienced during the holidays. The true test of my “Que Sera Sera” attitude was when my brother hosted Christmas. When it came time to bake the ham, there was no ham. There was a misunderstanding and therefore, we didn’t have a ham. My brother Tim hopped in the car and drove to the local gas station and found a ham! Granted, it was canned ham, and it was a ham from a gas station…but it was ham. And guess what? We all laughed about it! We laugh about it every single year. And of course, every year someone always asks, “Who brought the ham?”
My point is, enjoy the holiday sh*t show. Take time to really stay in the moment – stay in the NOW. If you don’t enjoy baking, don’t bake. If you decorate, don’t do it in “hurry up” mode and simply enjoy the process. And, once the holiday season has ended, take some time to reflect. I never used to give myself reflection time. There’s an old saying, “My teacher was hard because I got the test first and the lesson afterward.”
Experience is the greatest teacher, but only if you take the time to evaluate the experience.
As my gift to you, I’d like to share with you eight questions to reflect on before the New Year. Here they are:
- Did you reach the goals you set? (did you set growth goals?)
- Is your personal time and business time balanced to create a happy life?
- What did you do that didn’t serve you?
- What do you need to STOP doing?
- Is there someone you want to meet?
- Somewhere you want to go?
- Is there a relationship you want to improve?
- What are you most grateful for?
I’d love to hear all about your holiday Sh*t show. Or, send me some pictures! You can email me at emily@25-8leadership.com.
Cheers to embracing imperfection,
Emily Lindus
P.S. Who’s bringing the ham?!
“Let me EM-POWER You!”