Joy to the World!

Joy is a feeling that is only captured if we keep our hearts open.  Christmas brings joy when we are viewing it through our hearts, having fun, and (en) joying the now.  If only it could be Christmas all year long?  I heard this Christmas Carol and thought, why can't it be?  If we were to live our lives with our hearts and find joy each day, would that not be a celebration!  It is really up to us to capture the joy, feel joy and emanate those feelings to others.

Enjoy the winter beauty.

Christmas is a reminder of our capacity to feel joy, it is always there, we just get too busy most of the year to en...joy it.  A great way to open your heart is to listen to children.  They speak from the heart; innocent and unbiased.  Try to play without competition, dance, sing at the top of your lungs...with your heart wide open. Don't worry if you're off key, or think you can't dance, do it alone if you like, just have fun.

Sing to your heart's content!

Associating Christmas with presents has always been a struggle for me as I hate to shop.  I am the polar opposite of materialistic, my clothes could all fit in one piece of luggage.  We would still have a microwave from 1980 if it didn't start smelling like it was burning.  Shopping does not bring me joy, I might go as far as saying that it ignites feelings of nausea for me, I have to force myself to buy things.



Back to basics...enjoy!

My fondest memories of Christmas were the get togethers at our house with friends and family.  We would listen to music, someone would play the guitar or piano and we would sing.  In my young adult years, I remember rushing back to Coquitlam after work parties to be with my family and to see my grandma who brought great joy to my life.

 

Focus on Nature's gift.

This Christmas I am going to practise giving the gift of joy so that it may become a habit that I carry throughout the year...Joy to the World!

Acceptance

Accepting things as they are is a difficult balance. Your mind, (ego) wants to change things; it thinks it knows what is best.  The dilemma is that every one's mind is unique, everyone has a different perspective and everyone thinks their way is the best!  You may win the battle but lose your mind. 

The overload of resistance in your mind to 'what is' creates stress. Where do you draw the line between action and inaction?  Choose your battles and learn to accept things as they are.  Logic and intuition are tools that you have to determine what to accept and what to do something about.  They are both valuable, but should be used one at a time.  Logic may take you down a path that determines that no matter what you do, nothing will change the situation.  The mind can then accept 'what is'.  At other times, your intuition may tell you that something needs to be done.  Your intuition pushes the action button.  Logic can then take over and determine if you should continue with the action or stop and accept 'what is'.

Acceptance is especially challenging as a parent.  When do we take action and when do we remain silent and allow them to make their own choices?  Logic and intuition are again the tools we use, however, I think we tend to error on the cautious side as their well-being becomes more important in our mind than our own.  Kids are stressful, that I am afraid is a fact that we just have to accept!