The ancient art of juggling!!

From Alison: Are you crazy busy right now? Trying to run a Son Rise Program and a house and care for your children during the school holidays and prepare for the holiday festivities and to cap it all now dig yourself out of the snow?
I love this time of the year - almost everyone seems to catch on to the idea of the 3E's and life takes on a magical quality as we await the BIG day with anticipation. But for the people who provide all the finance, presents and food etc it can feel very stressful and in the past I have felt stressed by what I felt was my duty to make everyone happy. After all there is so much to remember, getting the right people to the right places with the right stuff for that all important performance or party. It can feel like juggling 20 balls at once with a very grave danger that they could all end up on the floor.

So how have I done things differently this year? Well in the past I have decorated every room in my house except the playroom with christmas lights, paper chains and tinsel, it took weeks to put it all up and bit by bit Jordan pulled it all down again (including the tree), I did this because I love the sparkle of christmas lights and tinsel , but I was so busy doing it all that I didn't notice that Jordan found it too much. My change in approach came from me sitting down with myself and deciding what I thought was really important - what did I want this year. I realised thanks to the programs that I have been on this year at The Option Institute, that if I was stressed then I was doing that to myself, that if I was overworked then it was because I had decided that I wanted to carry on till I could carry on no longer - I owned my actions and my feelings. So this year, I have slashed my workload, with only one tree, less food, and the knowledge that I can't make other people happy they have to do that for themselves. One thing that I knew I did want was to actually have time to play more over the holidays to not be so wrapped up in the task of christmas that I missed the opportunity to develop relationships with the people around me. I am making that my priority this year. So far I am not stressed and am loving the fun of making a snow dude in our garden and continuing with the Son Rise program with a christmas theme.

I hope that you have a wonderful holiday and that you enjoy whichever festival it is that you celebrate with the people that you love and that you have a blessed and peaceful 2010