Savor Every Drop of This Christmas Season

I am determined to savor the moments and remember that these moments are my life.

When I was a kid, there was one perfect day each year: December 25th. I remember the adrenaline rush of running into the living room, Andy Williams crooning in the background, all the lights bright and twinkly. What did Santa bring? One by one I’d open my presents in perfect delight. Hurricane Christmas never failed to leave an aftermath of strewn paper, boxes, Styrofoam and toy pieces in its wake. As quickly as it began it was over. Within days I’d start dog-earing the Toys R’ Us catalog with love, planning and dreaming of the next December 25th.

Now I look forward to the Christmas Season. I love the decorations, the cookie exchanges, the Dunkin’ Donuts salted caramel hot chocolate, the holiday parties, the crisp cool air (when we are lucky in Florida). I love the worldwide softening and the warmth that spills out into every community. When it comes to Christmas I savor every moment instead of fixating on Christmas morning and all the presents.

I wish I was that evolved in every other season and area of my life!

When I am married . . . When I weight 120 lbs . . . when I am promoted . . . when I have another baby . . . when I make six-figures . . .

I hear variations of this refrain from my clients, my friends and myself. We spend our lives delaying joy for another moment just off in the future.

Why so many delays? Whether the goal is feeling happy, or the plan is to take a great vacation, or to stop and spend time with family, delaying dreams for some future optimal date is simply delaying life.

There are benefits to being exactly where you are at right now.

If you find yourself waiting until (insert something happening here) and growing impatient, try stopping to look around you and point out all the perfect moments you can enjoy right now. Think of 20 wonderful things about your life, exactly as it is. The first 10 will come easily but keep pushing to find what is most amazing about this point in your life. It is usually in the last few that you start to appreciate your life right now, right as it is.

This holiday season my goal is to carve out tiny moments all season long where I sit back and love the people in my life; where I sip hot cocoa; where I watch twinkling lights dance and enjoy the excitement and glow in children’s faces. No rush, no fuss, no holiday stress. I am determined to savor the moments and remember that these moments are my life.