Merry December 26th

As Christmas 2011 slowly fades and my focus changes from entertaining extended family to nurturing my own small brood; I can't help but feel mixed emotions.  Nostalgia for those Christmas moments that I know I'll never forget, to a bit of resentment over the way Christmas sped by this year. And guilt of course for feeling the resentment during this supposed to be purely magical season of joy. Apologies to those who I didn't connect with through Christmas cards or words of cheer.  It wasn't that I forgot. 

I realize that its funny that I'm a yoga teacher who works with people to manage stress and yet I fall into the same stress traps that I warn others of. It's nothing short of hypocritical. But as today was progressing (or shall I say spiraling), into a direction that I had in no way planned, I felt out of control.  I've mentioned it before; I'm a bit type A, and an entire day of unplanned activities is unsettling to say the least. It was even bad unplanned activities. They were just unplanned. I had to tell myself the same thing I say to everyone else.  Breathe Amy, just breathe.

Once I arrived home tonite and had a little time to myself, I was able to pull my thoughts together.  Writing and yoga seem to be two of my happy places so here I sit at a computer without any real writing agenda.  Just allowing the words to release on my screen allows me to arrange my thoughts in a nice orderly fashion and that systematic yogic breath happens even here.  I can even feel my shoulders release.

My favorite Christmas moment was watching my kids give each other the presents they had picked out on their own.  The teens now have the maturity and where-with-all to do their own Christmas shopping and I was delighted with their thoughtfulness and generosity. TWTB "Those whom typically Bicker" were throwing arms around each other and giggling with each other most of day.

A good Christmas moment.

Life will return to normal after I recover from this Christmas crash.  The decorations will slowly come down and the house will return to everyday structured and planned activities.  And hopefully at the end of those long busy days I will remember not my own little mall meltdown on the 26th of December but the moments that really made Christmas meaningful in 2011. Merry December 26th everyone.  It's time to settle into that long winter's nap.