Blogmas Day 8: The Blog That Almost Didn’t Happen

It is 10:45pm out here. I just woke up, gasped and startled Jake right out of his sleep. “ What’s wrong?” He asked. “I forgot to post!” I exclaimed just as loudly as I’d gasped. He rolled over and mumbled, “Oh, my gosh…” before he fell back asleep. I grabbed my phone and sighed in relief when I realized I had an hour and some change to write today’s post. So, here we are, two weeks deep into the realness of spontaneous Blogmas. Apparently, Blogmas can look like very last minute posts.

Tuesday’s out here during Blogmas, are for tips.

Today, I want to give you some tips on how to cultivate Christmas Cheer. Holiday Spirit or Christmas Cheer is not always the effortless awakening that Hallmark and Lifetime imply. Getting into the spirit actually takes some work and investment.

We invest our time into planning decor, activities, gifts and schedules. We invest energy into executing those plans the best we can, and we invest any free time we had into keeping up with the trends and expectations that come with the holiday season. It is exhausting and probably why most of us will crash for an entire weekend after New Years Day. However, as daunting as it may be the magic of Christmas almost always makes it all worth it. So, amongst the hustle and bustle of this season I want to give you a few tips to find and preserve your Christmas cheer.

1) Set and honor your boundaries.

My friend Britt of Sidewalk Wonder posted a few days ago about the adjustment she and her husband are making into married life this holiday season. Where to celebrate, the entire thing. She mentioned that one of the ways she has been able to manage has been to consider herself first in a triage of priorities and I could not possibly agree more. Boundaries are not my strongest suit but I am getting better at them. I have noticed that every time I honor a boundary I set, I feel more capable of honoring that boundary and I feel more capable in general. Confidence and boundaries are key for the holiday season.

2) Plan some cheer.

Listen, when I tell you I felt like the Grinch once November hit, I am not playing at all. I wasn’t feeling it. The Christmas cheers were not taking over. It was unpleasant. Then I realized that I had done nothing this year to help me cultivate that cheer. So, Jake and I decided to do the thing for our home and start to play Christmas music. The holiday cheer factor went up at least 20%. Sometimes, Christmas doesn’t come wrapped in a pretty bow. You gotta work for it.

I will have more holiday trips shortly but til then. I hope these tricks made you feel empowered and a little bit more cheer.

Love always,

J