By: Staci Batterson
I don’t know about you, but this time of year is always overwhelming to me. The start of the holiday season is always a mix between excitement and anxiety. I am always so excited to spend time with family and friends, host dinners and parties, and share the magic of the holidays with my little girl. At the same time, I almost never feel like there is enough time to get everything checked off my to do list. Between decorating the house, grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, planning the perfect gifts for family and friends, and trying stay present in all of the important moments that happen during this time of year, there are plenty of times that I feel like I am missing what is really important during this special season.
I am not going to lie, I can sometimes get way too caught up in everything being perfect during the holidays. I absolutely love decorating my house for Christmas, hosting my annual holiday party, and creating an amazing meal on Thanksgiving for my family and friends to enjoy. I am the type of person that spends hours on Pinterest finding the “perfect” theme for the parties I host, five new appetizers to make for Thanksgiving dinner, and all kinds of new and unique ways to make the holidays memorable. Why do I spend so much time and effort trying to make the holidays so special? It is ultimately because I want the people around me to feel loved and appreciated. I want to create experiences for them that they will never forget. I am learning that the holidays, and really anytime throughout the year for that matter, are not about the gifts, the parties, and the meals. They are about the people and the relationships that we are deepening throughout the season.
Hear me loud and clear, I am not saying that you shouldn’t decorate your house, have a fun holiday party, or put time in effort into making your gifts for friends and family thoughtful and meaningful. I love doing these things and they bring me a lot of joy. I am saying, not get so caught up in those things that you miss what is right in front of you. You are never going to get these moments back. You only have one senior year in high school, your kids are only little for so long, and one day your parents won’t be here to sit around the Thanksgiving table with you and tell you what they are thankful for. So embrace each and every moment and experience you have with the people that you love. They are a gift, and not something that we are guaranteed. I promise you that your friends and family are not going to care or even remember what you served at the Christmas party, or how perfect the name cards were at Thanksgiving last year. What they are going to remember is how you made them feel, the connections that you shared, and the memories you created together.
My hope for you, and for me, during the holidays is that we will take the time to slow down and embrace each and every moment this season. The dishes can wait, the holiday shopping can be done online, and the party doesn’t have to be “Pinterest” perfect. You will never regret spending real, engaged, present time with the people you love but if you don’t make a conscious effort to slow down and be in the moment, you might just miss it all together. I hope your holiday season is full of SHINE and that you take the time to see the true magic and gifts all around you.