Stress

About 36 hours ago I was peaceful and blissful. I was discussing with my friend Ann how stressful the holidays can be for "some" people and how ironic that is. It is, after all, supposed to be a time to reflect on the year and Christ's birth, spend some quality time with the fam and just relax and enjoy the pretty sparkly lights and eat some medicinal pie...right? I was sitting back revelling in the fact that I had a quiet Christmas planned this year and laughing at all the poor shlubs who were wearing themselves out shopping and cooking and entertaining.

I'm not laughing anymore! At about 11pm last night it all began to sink in. By 6am this morning I had formed a list of things to do that would make Santa tired. How did this happen?!! Steve and I were up until midnight discussing all the details of this Christmas. Literally, almost every minute is scheduled out. At one point we both stopped and looked at each other and decided that next year we are outta here! We are hightailing it outta town. We are literally going to RUN away from Christmas next year.

Isn't it so stupid? Did you know that Christmas is when heart attacks and suicide rates are at their highest? Why? I don't think this is what God had in mind. How do we as Christian's refocus and quiet ourselves? How do we avoid the chaos? I'm all for decorating(clearly), baking, gifting, etc but how do we avoid all the other "stuff"? Maybe by next year I'll have the answers to those questions and I can have the peaceful Christmas I long for.

Well, I gotta go...fast!