Reflection #42 Holiday Cool
The Gap Year:
Reflection # 42 Holiday-Cool
“May neither bitterness nor a cloud of sadness overwhelm you.” –Clare of Assisi
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are what we think about all day long.” On this holiday season, I’m choosing to set aside the strife of these past months and think good thoughts. I’ve decided to not fret so much but simply be. I strive to be a kid again. Or perhaps a better way to say it is, I choose to see the world through the eyes of a child. As a child, I believed in the miracle of Christmas (or whatever holiday you observe😊). I believed in the unknown and the unknowable— even the impossible. I want to keep this sense of wonder.
I’ve decided that this can be a happy time. Happiness is not exuberance or noise like joy. It is calm and soft. It is a feeling of well-being that begins with caring for myself. I am free. I don’t have to prove anything or figure anything out. Instead, I now search to find pockets of happiness wherever and whenever I can find them.
I recommend minimizing expectations about how things should go-- and go with the flow. Set aside resentment. Relax in knowing that no one, except those who love you, cares about who you are or what you do. You no longer have to fake it til you make it-- because there is no need to make it. You’ve already made it. Love and care for others without measuring how much they love or care for you. You don’t need a stranger’s love or care in return.
Above all, just be kind. And if you can’t be kind, stay quiet. Perhaps something you say or do today, in this holiday season, will be the healing good they and you need. —Tricia
Now it’s your turn.
Take time to reflect and, if in a group, share as you feel able.
Today I am “holiday cool” because I:
a) choose to think good thoughts.
b) want to keep a sense of wonder.
c) minimize expectations and go with the flow.
d) say or do something that will be the healing good someone needs.