Post-Christmas Courtesy

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today I am writing about how holidays can be like exclamation points that draw attention to what our experience "should be" in comparison to what it actually is. For many, this comparison may be painful because one is forced to acknowledge that one's current reality is so radically different from what our culture tells us it should be at times like Christmas, New Years, and Thanksgiving. I urge everyone to try to remember to ask friends how they are rather than how their "Christmas" was. This removes the expectation that their experience of Christmas needed to be something special. I have been taught that letting go of my expectations for how something should be makes it easier for me to be accepting of the present moment I actually have. This is as true about holiday expectations as it is for any other expectations. For more thoughts on this topic see my Living One Day at a Time blog at:

http://evolvingelder.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/exclamation-points/