The Difference Between Having an Outrageous December or Not

It is December, a month that typically flies by, ending just as the majority of people are catching up to it. The race to complete holiday preparations is in high gear and, intermingled with shopping, baking, holiday gatherings, and holiday plays, you also have professional responsibilities and goals you may still be pressing to achieve oh yes, and then there is taking care of YOU.

How are you taking care of yourself this season? When the world is moving forward, and in full-throttle, what do you do to take care of yourself or are "you" even part of the game? Think about it.

Now, I don't presume to know that "you" are the first thing dropped out when life is happening on high-speed. However, when time is tight and pressures are high, most people drop themselves out first. They push their needs aside for the "greater good" and suffer, sometimes silently and other times not. They focus on doingmoving from one project to another, moving from one store to another, and feeling frazzled over what still lies aheadinstead of on "being".

Consider this: Who would you have to be to get done all that has to be done easily, and what might show up as a result? It would be pretty cool if more time for you happened to show up. Also, "being" just might slow you down enough to be present to what the holiday season is all about.

The holiday season, no matter what your beliefs, is a time for reflection, family, and acknowledging old traditions and starting new ones. It is a time for appreciating what you do have and what you have accomplished, rather than wallowing in what you don't have, and it is a time, like no other, to really "be".

Do you want to know the best place to learn how to just "be"? Spend time with a child. Play with a child, and really get in touch with who they're "being". You see, all of us have an inner child screaming to get out. It just gets buried beneath worry, sadness, looking good, and being right, and the best way to uncover it is to let a child guide the way.

So this holiday season, why not take some special time with your kids, grandchildren or nieces and nephews? Go to a holiday festival or special performance. Watch how children just "be" who they are. Then take their cue. Learn from them again, how to navigate the world with the awe and wonder of a child. Through their eyes, the tasks of the holiday season that so often overwhelm and frazzle us adults, are mere drops in a vast ocean.

Children aren't concerned with looking good or being right; they simply want to get all they can out of each and every minute, even if those minutes simply consist of eating peas or some other tasty vegetable. Have you ever noticed how a 2 year old can't simply eat peas? They have to roll them around first, smash up a few, and maybe even spit some out. But, this is how children learn and get in touch with the world around them. Now, I am not suggesting that at your company's holiday gathering you play with your food. However, it is possible to take on the world like a child, without all of your preconceived notions and assumptions about who you are and the world around you.

For example, why not take some time and write down what you have accomplished this past year? You just may surprise yourself and be able to enjoy what you have done, instead of running to catch up with what you haven't done, and making yourself wrong for not having done it already. Try it on and see what happens . . .

And yes, there's lots to be done like preparing your kids for their upcoming debut in a holiday program, spending time with extended family, putting up with an obnoxious relative or two, and keeping your team on task at work. However, taking time for yourself, being present to the goodness in the world around you, and allowing yourself the opportunity to "be" will make the difference between your having an outrageous December . . . or not.

So this holiday season, my wish for you is that you willsee the world through the eyes of a child, love like a child,hope like a child, and be unstoppable, like a child.

With Warmest Regards and Best Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday Season,

Clay S. Nelson

Clay S. Nelson, the founder of Consulting Services Network LLC, and his team are committed to putting fun, family and financial freedom into everyones business and personal lives. With over two decades of experience coaching business leaders in creating life balance, building teams, and writing plans, their programs are designed to alter the cultures of companies and families. They make a powerful and lasting difference with each person they meet, every group they speak with, and with every client they serve.

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