Start The Year Right: Holi-moments vs. Holidays
January 2, 2011 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
With only a hanful of holidays a year, many who work in W-2 land only get a handful of days to recharge and spend quality time with whomever they please. Those of us in entrepreneur land get to choose whichever day we darn well please to spend quality time to do whatever we want. I like to create holi-moments on a daily or weekly basis. Some of the moments are fleeting like watching the sunset or breathing in the crisp air after it’s just snowed in the mountains on my morning jaunt or meeting with the pups along my route for a quick scritch and tail wag. Some holi-moments take more time such as a spa day, a pedicure or a great meal and live entertainment.
In order to become and remain energized and live a vital life, we need to pay attention to our moments and not just our holidays to lift our spirits and create joy in our lives. I vowed decades ago to not participate in the usually seasonal holiday mall madness, the stressful dashing about, the traffic around shopping areas and the obligations if it wasn’t enjoyable to me, which it isn’t. My declaration is to stay away from the mania in order to keep my sanity and polite, positive disposition. If it feels like an obligation and isn’t enjoyable or genuine from the heart with a sincere desire, then don’t do it.
Don’t fall prey to unfettered consumerism or the unjoyful acts of the season if it’s not energizing to you. I’ve streamlined holiday decorating to take 30 minutes and thoroughly enjoy it and the after effect. I don’t feel any stress whatsoever during this time of year and I’ve got a great system to sending out holiday cards and gifts from my home office while the fireplace crackles and holiday music plays on my stereo. I get to enjoy the good things and dispose of all the negative side effects by ascertaining what stresses me and make plans to avoid that list.
So whats on your list of stressors? What feels like an obligation to you? What can you cross off your holiday list of things to not do next year? How will you create holi-moments in your daily or weekly life so you don’t have to wait until the holidays to take time to revitalize your life and your work? When we’re personally revitalized, our work is revitalized. Everybody who comes into our life also feels the benefits of an un-stressed you. Make time for holi-moments and make a stand for making time for yourself and making your own rules on how to handle holidays and every day with grace and joy. And if you want my top secret technique for card sending and gift giving, send me an email and I’ll reveal my trade secret: Gail@GailHahn.com or visit BizBuilderCards.com.