“…of a four letter word. You get my motor runnin’ or you get on my nerves. You make me wanna kiss you or just flip you the bird. You always got me thinkin’ of a four letter word. Oh, you got me thinkin’ of a four letter word.”
I gotta admit, this song pretty much nails my feelings on Christmas these days. Not the whole Jesus-was-born part of it (I’m completely on board with that!) but all the other stuff. You know, the “trappings”. I get a teensy bit overloaded on all that. Just sometimes though! 99% of the time my four letter word for this time of year is l-o-v-e but there are those times… Well, I’ll spare you the specifics.
Especially this week.
This week, I took a stand.
I had to walk away from the radio station that plays continuous Christmas music.
First of all, I’m not really a “classical Christmas songs” kinda girl. (Go figure, right?)
Second, I felt like I was drowning. Seriously, like I was goin’ under for third time in the sea of Christmas.
And can I tell you something?
Cranking up a little Uncle Kracker did me a WORLD of good. I was energized. I was invigorated. I didn’t have visions of hunting Rudolph down and turning him into a hood ornament. I stopped screaming four letter words every time I heard jingle bells.
Can I tell you something else?
It might do you some good to take a little hiatus too.
In fact, that’s what step number seven is ALL about!
Step 7 in our 12-step to a freak-out free Christmas-
It’s okay to take a break from all the Christmas hoopla.
It’s okay to step away from the 24/7 music. The 24/7 “ho ho ho’s”.
Life IS gonna get in the way. Even during this special time of year. You’re gonna have bad days. You’re gonna be in a bad mood. You’re gonna wanna kill your kids or finally make good on that threat to run away to sunny Mexico.
IT. IS. O.K.
Just because you have REAL emotions that don’t line up with the season of good cheer every second of every day doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t have a fabulous Christmas. It doesn’t make you a terrible person or an ungrateful brat.
Sometimes you just need to step away for a moment.
To catch your breath.
To think about something else.
You CAN take a time out. And you probably should.
It’s stressful! You’re worried about money and not disappointing people. You’re stressed about family dynamics and getting it all done. You miss loved ones that have passed away. You have some not-so-wonderful ghosts of Christmas past trying to rear their ugly heads. And the traffic. HOLY BALLS THE TRAFFIC.
Seriously. Just try it. Take a break from the season. Just for a few minutes. The next bell-ringer that you don’t cuss will be ever so grateful.
Need a little help figuring out if a self-appointed time out is in order? Here ya’ go!
