Surviving the Christmas Extras

I’m writing this from the inside of a pup tent pitched in the depths of my sister’s basement.  Hey that’s luxury, my brother and his wife have been allocated to the garage on an air mattress on the back of a Dodge ram pick-up truck, with sleeping bags that are ‘good up to minus ten’ ... at about minus twenty degrees Celsius, (newly married, so we expect they’ll probably survive... body heat and all that... – well, that’s the story they’ll be getting when they arrive anyways --J).     

One thing has become abundantly clear this holiday season is that Christmas and extras seem to go together. 

Extra shopping.  Extra food.  Extra travelling.  Extra visitors.  Extra busyness.  Extra expenses.  Extra Stress.  Extra eating.  Extra calories.  Extra Pounds. 

Our ‘third’ Christmas feast is coming up tomorrow.  Yes, I know.  I’ve been telling myself that my shrinking jeans must be a result of the dryer too.     

Tis the season of abundance.  The question is; the abundance of what?   

And just how much of that abundance will require some process of recovery come January...?    

A whole lot of you are already rolling your eyes, praying over credit card statements and conducting internet searches for gym membership specials as we speak...   

In the midst of all that, one is expected to find the time to enjoy and appreciate the people in our lives.

Sadly, many of us have forgotten that finding joy has everything to do with us and less to do with the people around us.  We tend to find what it is we are looking for.           

So Christmas is the one season that highlights the significance of relationships.  It should remind us of the importance of adding value to the lives of the people around us.  If this were a measure of success, perhaps Christmas would be significantly less stressful and it would indeed be a greater joy to see family at the end of the year. 
       

On my side, thankfully, the extras have been kept somewhat to a minimum. 

Seeing the family has been good, but... well..., my sister has made brownies and so the extra pounds... will just have to wait until January!