Life

Oh, where to start??  I would love to say the holidays went smoothly and for the most part they did. I was blessed to be surrounded by family and friends, and as always Santa was very good to us all. However, as with any other day there’s always something that goes awry unexpectedly and I’ll admit that it got to me this year. I don’t know why.

Kids seemed noisier than normal, the hubby was sick (has been for almost 4 weeks!), the tree wasn’t quite right, the meal didn’t taste as good as it usually does….  I know, I know, all trivial and insignificant things in the grand scheme of things, but I’m the type who has to have everything just so-so and anything that gets off kilter throws my whole day off! I think I get it from my mother! And while it’s not necessarily a bad thing to want everything in its place and perfect, I think it steals our happiness of day to day things, possibly allowing us to overlook all that we have to be thankful for.

So, as I sit and reflect on the past few days I’ve decided to look at the positive. I’m thankful I have happy, healthy children that are loud and excited. To have boys who are blessed to have everything they have and they’re grateful enough to know how fortunate they are. I’m thankful that even though my husband is sick, he did everything possible to participate and make this one of our best years together, for myself and our family. I’m thankful for extended family that came and enjoyed spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. It’s tradition and we look forward to it every year! I am thankful I have a warm home to put a tree in, no matter how much said tree leans. I’m blessed to be able to put food on the table for everyone to sit down and enjoy fellowship with one another. Most of all, I’m thankful that in spite of my shortcomings I have people who love me enough to overlook the craziness!

These “bumps” that could have derailed my otherwise perfect holiday ended up being the things that made it most memorable. In the future I will try to enjoy the ride, focusing on the things that truly matter instead of the little things that can steal my joy.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones and I wish you much joy and happiness in the New Year!