Now that Halloween is a ghost of the past, the upcoming holiday season is fast approaching. Poor Thanksgiving. It somehow gets lost now between the over-the-top decorations of Halloween and the way-too-quick transition to Christmas season.
In the US, the holiday season is usually filled with family, food, parties and people. However, due to the circumstances surrounding us, this holiday season may look a little different than those in recent history. Does this mean our holidays have to be less wonderful? Absolutely not! Like everything else, it all depends on your perspective. Think about it: the phrase, “it’s the thought that counts”, applies to more than the receiving of a good or a bad gift. What is your holiday outlook this year?
There are many people, regardless of the economy, the pandemic, or the chaos of post-2020 election who are looking forward to the holiday season. There are others who find the entire holiday season to be a bit overwhelming or underwhelming because they feel that have too much shopping to do and too many celebrations they can’t attend. Still there are others who may feel that they have nobody to celebrate with and nothing to celebrate. In any case, it really is the thought that counts.
The realizations that we come into this world as creative beings and that the way we create is through our thoughts put us in the driver’s seat of our lives. We learn that we are responsible for our world, that our future is not fixed, that our thoughts are the cause and our surroundings are the effect.
If the life we’ve created so far is a disaster, the first step we can take to improve our situation is to bless the mess. Why? Because it provides us with iron-clad (actually, I prefer gold or platinum over iron) proof that we are creative beings. This knowing empowers us to create something different than what we’ve created before. If we created a mess, we can certainly create something better, but we must truly believe that we can.
What is the next step? The next step is to move on and to create something different. How? It starts by changing your thoughts. Change your thoughts, change your energy, change your life. Being aware that we become what we think about, most of the time, is often enough to guide us to a new and better outcome.
Let’s use the upcoming holiday season as an example. Where are you on this spectrum? How are you viewing the upcoming holiday season? What key questions or thought transitions can you make to empower yourself to enjoy the holidays even more?
Please see the chart below for some examples:
| Thought | Empowering | Dis-Empowering |
| I have so many gifts to buy. | I am fortunate to have many loved ones.I am happy that I have the resources to choose thoughtful gifts (and not necessarily expensive) for them and to support the economy through my purchases. | I don’t have the time or energy to buy these gifts and I don’t wish to spend the money but I have to. |
| The many parties I attended before will not be held this year. | I am fortunate to have had so many invitations. I will reach out to those who I saw in person in years past via some other method. | I am depressed that I won’t attend all of these parties. |
| I will gain weight over the holidays. | My weight will stay the same or I will lose weight over the holidays because I will maintain my exercise program and make proper food choices. | If the food is there, I’m going to eat it. I won’t exercise over the holidays because I am unhappy about my current circumstances. |
| I don’t have enough money to buy nice gifts for everyone on my list. | I intend to spend something much more valuable than money on my loved ones for the holidays, I intend to spend my time with them, even if it is virtually. | Because I don’t have the money to buy gifts this year, I’ll just stay home and talk to no one. |
| Nobody cares about me. | I have so much to give and plenty of time to do so.I’m excited by the possibility of meeting new people.The world is waiting for me. | Nobody even knows I exist. |
Now that you’ve gotten the hang of it, where else in your life should you be applying new questions? The right question can lead you to a solution.
During the upcoming holiday season, give yourself the gift of practicing excellent self-care by practicing the key questions and thought transitions to empower you.
It has been said that if we feel lonely, detached, or unfulfilled in our current life role, be it personally or professionally (or both), it means that we are not honoring our soul, our spirit or our authentic self. Practicing excellent self-care allows us to tap into this. When we find and give to ourselves, we can in turn give more to those around us because we come from a place of inspiration rather than a place of desperation. Our relationships with ourselves are the most important in our lives. Love yourself by practicing excellent self-care.
And even our most profound spiritual teachers agree. The mandate to love others as we love ourselves has little meaning if we find we don’t do the latter!
Excellent self-care begins with looking for messages in your life, extracting the meaning, and making the decisions necessary to propel yourself into the direction of your dreams.