Holiday Challenges

My intention was to post weekly thoughts about meditation. And then came Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, Christmas baking, Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner and the amazing flow of friends and family through my house. I love the holidays - the warmth of family and friends under one roof is something to cherish! The down side? As a Type A Master Planner, my gift lists, grocery lists and holiday to do lists gave me ample excuses not to meditate.

This is, of course, the perfect time of year for me to meditate. Holiday "To Do" lists have a way of making me feel overwhelmed, grumpy and burnt out. This self imposed stress defeats the true purpose and spirit of the holidays - to be present with those I love, to look back on the year with gratitude, to cherish what I have been given. I have a feeling meditation would have helped me deal with feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes, when I am sitting quietly, I am reminded of things that make me feel whole - snuggling up with my dogs, calling my grandmother and writing love notes to my best friends on the hilarious Christmas cards I hand picked for each one this year! (those hand picked Christmas cards are still blank - now tucked away for next year - oh well!)

Yesterday, I did manage to sit quietly with my mala beads and my mantra ("Be the change you want to see in the world..."). My natural instincts would be to obsess over my lack of meditation commitment and feed into my sense of failure. However, I am going to try to use meditation to change this habit of obsession and guilt. And what better time than the New Year to turn over this new leaf!