The gift of losing expectations.
What a wonderful, yet crazy season this is. The
holiday season is at my door step and I find myself caught up in a seemingly
endless loop of what I want to do, obligations that I am committed to do, and
my own expectations of what I think I should be doing, or at least that was
what this time of year used to look like for me. Last year, I gifted myself a
year of working at letting go of expectations and it has been the best gift I
could ever have given. Most of our stress comes from our own expectations. The
expectations of how we think everything ‘should’ be and what we think others
want us to be. We have become so focused on those unreal expectations of
ourselves and trying to obtaining a Hallmark movie perfect Christmas and life.
The truth is we end up looking more like a scene from National Lampoon. Did we
buy this, make that, should we do this or that, did we remember to do this or
that? It’s our own unobtainable expectations that can suck the joy out of life.
In reality, all our family and friends ever really want, is us. Down the road,
when all is said and done, all anyone really remembers is whether or not we
were there. We don’t remember perfection, it doesn’t exist. All those to-do
lists, or rather, the what we think we should do lists, will never compare to
us simply showing up. So, gift yourself and your family and let go of the
expectations that weigh you down. If you’re lucky there will be spills, tears, lists
and dates that you forgot and unexpected mishaps, but it will be wonderfully
memorable and full of love. We remember the company, the smells, the dried-out
turkey, the tree that fell over, that really ugly sweater, the time we took a
wrong turn and got lost, the laughs along the way and how we felt. The only
thing anyone wants and needs is you, showing up as you are. Your presence is
the gift.
Merry Christmas!!
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