There are 17 days before people around the world celebrate Christmas, a holiday whose deepest intention, to remind Christians of the birth of their savior, is often lost in the commercial wrappings. I am far from alone in seeking an experience of the season that is rich with meaning, true to the ideals of peace, joy, love, and hope, and beautiful rather than draining.
Each one of us will have a different vision for that ideal experience. Your meaningful and beautiful holiday might be filled with people and parties and joy while mine might be homemade presents and intimate luncheons. Our neighbor might focus solely on Christmas caroling and choirs, religious services and donating time at the local food pantry.
Many of was want all of this and more for our ideal season. And when a day like today arrives, a Saturday wide open with time to get things done, we ask: What will I do now? What must get done? Where will I start? And before long, the crazies can set in. I found myself beginning to race within 30 minutes of waking up today. My list had “write a tidbit” and my crazies centered around, “What will I write about?”
If you are reading this and have a case of the crazies … Stop. Breathe. Breathe again. Close your eyes for a minute and take 5 deep breaths before reading on.
Try out BE-DO-HAVE today. What is that, you ask?
- You want to HAVE a meaningful and beautiful holiday.
- You need to DO many things before then.
- You must first BE present.
In order to have anything, we must first BE present to ourselves and the moment that is here right now. From that place where we are aware of our breath, our very existence, we can clearly choose what we must DO next. This combination of being present, from which we do the actions, results in the HAVE: having the meaningful and beautiful holiday. Even more, practiced daily, BE-DO-HAVE results in every day being the gift of meaning and beauty! We are present to our lives, present to the people and the experiences here and now.
Make today a BE-DO-HAVE day en route to a BE-DO-HAVE holiday.
For a deeper exploration of being present during the season, check out the Opening Your Presence coaching card:
