I have one wish this Christmas.
Just one little thing I would love more than anything.
Could you please just bring me some more time?
Just a little more time to spend with the people I love and a little less time racing around like a lunatic - buying and wrapping gifts, cleaning the house like the Queen of England is coming to visit, and buying enough groceries and booze that you would think the Prohibition starts Friday.
Just some time to shift the balance.
Time with my friends.
Time with my family.
I honestly don't need any more "stuff".
Isn't it really just white noise anyways?
I mean, somehow we manage to function all year with what we have, yet at Christmas there are lists of things that seem to circulate as our needs that we were perfectly fine without until December.
This month is such a test of character.
The days are too short.
There is more darkness than light.
It is cold and icy and the house fights to keep warm.
The expectations are unrealistic.
There are multiple commitments, professionally and personally, that overlap day by day and hour by hour.
We are stretched to the limit balancing scheduling commitments and celebrations to a fault.
I stand back and watch the fights through the line ups at the mall, searching for the last known inventory of an item we most likely do not need.
I feel the pressure and stress of finding the right gift and have I spent too much money or not enough?
I watch the chaos of observing others outdoing and one up'ing each other, trying to increase their perception of nothing more than their own self worth.
If you stand back and look at it all, it is completely insane.
There are people who are spending their first Christmas alone trying to find their way.
Many who have lost a loved one and are spending their Christmas missing a parent, Grandparent, close friend or child and their Christmases are forever changed by that loss.
There are homeless people in the world without the good fortune of one present or a warm meal.
And as I stand in line at 9am 5 days before Christmas, waiting to pay for more gift tags and string that must match my plaid gift wrap in perfect harmony, I look around at the mayhem and realize how important it is to stay in check of what the holidays are truly all about. To breathe in gratitude for what we do have and spend our time in the right places and on the right things.
My dear Santa, send some peace down and sprinkle it on everyone you can see because I swear this week every year, the magic in Christmas gets so easily buried behind the gifts and inside the turkey.
The true magic of Christmas belongs to gifts of time and this week I just need a little bit more of it.
Love,
Sarah
p.s. And also a good Cab Sauv, new running shoes and anything from Lululemon...
p.s.s. Okay, so I guess that wasn't just one wish.
p.s.s.s. I was honestly just mentioning in case you need some ideas.
p.s.s.s. Yes, I know. You prefer scotch, not milk and cookies. All over it.
