How to Enjoy the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I have a confession, Wildflowers. I hate the holidays. I do. They stress me out big time. I feel compelled to please everyone, which is impossible. I feel like my house is too small and shabby, which it might be, but normally I’m okay with it. No one makes me feel this way; this is an entirely internal struggle. I feel pressed for time and money and those things are always in demand and by the time January rolls around I am so relieved it is over that I look back and think, ‘that wasn’t so bad’ and vow to step up my game for the following year and bake another pie and decorate more cookies.

It is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. I love thinking of great gift ideas that my family will love and I love the noncommercial aspects of the season. I remember a homily from years ago very, very clearly that rang true to my heart: Christmas is the way it should be, and Easter is the way life really is.

So I try to make the holidays they way they should be. I should decorate, so I do, I should bake, so I do, and I should be excited, so I try to be. I end up shouldering all over myself inside and start feeling increasingly tense, rushed, and inadequate. My resulting emotional reality is much worse than the metaphorical Easter of real life.

I can’t be the only one out there who secretly (or not so secretly) hates the pressure of the holiday season. It truly is so much more to do and really, I don’t want to do more. I want to do less. I want to do less, better and it seems that the winter ends up being about doing more, badly, in bad weather, dressed up in nice clothing and impractical footwear. When I describe it like that, of course, it seems all bad. I just hate the feeling that I am supposed to feel and act a certain way when surely it should be okay to feel the opposite, given the above reasons.

The way I truly need to step up my game is to bring this widely swinging pendulum to a more moderate trajectory. I don’t have to do more; I can just do a few things, but better, with less stress. It is easier said than done but there’s no one else inside my head but me. It is up to me to change my perspective, the chatter in between my ears, and my to-do list. I ambitiously and foolishly thought that I should clean out all the closets before Christmas (thanks a lot, Marie Kondo). This great idea is probably not going to happen and that should be perfectly acceptable. Christmas doesn’t have to be decorated with mom-created magic (when did Mom become the sole creator of all holiday magic anyway?!). It can be magical all by itself, which is really the whole point of the holiday season, regardless of your religious, secular or otherwise influenced beliefs. I wrote this post for any of you out there who really needed to hear that they weren’t alone hating the holidays. I’m right there with you. Let’s just try to remember that this is, and can be, the most wonderful time of the year.

For my Dear Readers who may or may not feel the same as I do, I teamed up with an Etsy creator to share with you this gorgeous reminder that the holidays are indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Please enter the giveaway below and share this post with anyone who would love these beautiful words.

The above sign is a 5×7 white chalk painted piece of salvaged wood with a gold vinyl decal affixed and it is ready to hang and inspire you to quit hating on the holidays 😉

This sign is crafted from by another ambitious blonde of Swiss ancestry who is beautifying the world one rad creation at a time. Be sure to follow her Instagram shop here, and if you have a creative idea of your own, shoot her a message. She does custom orders too!

Thank you, Dear Readers, for reading. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below! Happy Holidays!