Earlier this month, I said that there was "too much 'Christmas.'" Today, I had just about the right amount. I did some Christmas shopping, wrapped a few gifts, helped two of my siblings work on some homemade gifts, and listened to some Christmas music. I spent most of the day doing Christmassy things, yet it didn't overwhelm me. That was probably because I wasn't stressed about any of it.
I knew exactly what I was getting when I walked into the store and about how much it would cost. I walked in, bought the stuff, and walked out. I got it done early (in the day), so I wasn't under a time crunch. I didn't worry about whether the gift will be well-received because I included the receipt with the gift. If they don't like it, they can return it and buy whatever they want. No stress.
The wrapping wasn't too stressful either. They were simple shapes mostly, and the paper's all going to be torn to shreds anyway. It doesn't matter that some of the tape was applied crookedly. If anyone notices, that would be impressive, and if they say anything about that, I think that says more about them than about me. Did I do a perfect wrapping job? No. Does that matter at all? Also no. No stress.
Helping my siblings with their gifts, I was in my element. I wasn't in charge, I wasn't the idea guy, and it wasn't on me if things started to fall apart. I wasn't responsible for making sure the job got done well. I was just there to help. That's what I'm good at: helping. They asked me to fetch things, find things, clean things, and I did. I was mostly just an extra set of hands, and that's a job I know I can handle. No stress.
And the music was just for fun. It wasn't a huge production. I didn't have to go anywhere. I didn't have to perform, especially not in front of a crowd. I just put on some music and listened. Most of them were classic songs played in unique ways, and I enjoyed both the familiarity and the surprises. The music may have even reduced whatever stress I might have been experiencing. Listening to that music was less than no stress. It was negative stress.
So yeah, today was a great day for me, and almost all of it involved Christmas. About a week ago, I felt overwhelmed because there was "too much 'Christmas,'" and I still stand by what I said then: "I don't have a problem with Christmas itself. I have a problem with the noise that typically comes with Christmas." The problem isn't that there's "too much" Christmas; it's that I'm doing it wrong. I went to a party I didn't want to go to, I worried too much about Christmas presents, and I let something I normally love, music, become an obligation instead of a source of support. I worried too much about the parts of Christmas that don't really matter, and I wasn't thinking enough about the one part of Christmas that really does matter.
Like I said a week ago, "Christmas isn't supposed to be stressful." Thankfully, today wasn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment