It's the Most Hectic Time of the Year

This article first appeared in the December, 2014 issue of the Wheatland Parish newsletter.

            It’s December.  That, of course, means that Christmas is coming up.  That, in turn, means that we’re headed into one of the busiest times of the year.

            There will be school concerts.  There will be Christmas parties.  There will be basketball games and wrestling tournaments.  There will be family gatherings.  There will be Christmas shopping and taking the kids to see Santa Claus.  And, of course, there will be church Christmas programs and Christmas Eve services.  It seems like the Christmas season is one of the most hectic times of the year.

            That’s okay.  There’s nothing wrong with any of those things.  They add to the joy of the Christmas season--up to a point.

            Where that point is will be different for each of us.  Some of us are fine with having stuff going on every night of the week.  Some of us even thrive on it.  Others, though, get stressed out over it.  It seems like every year, I hear people say, “I just can’t wait for Christmas to be over!”

            That’s kind of sad.  It’s sad because Christmas is not supposed to be a stressful time.  It’s supposed to be a joyous time.  If we can’t wait for Christmas to be over, it means we’ve let all these other things, all the running around and doing things, distract us from feeling the joy that comes from what we’re meant to be celebrating--the human birth of the divine Son of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

            So, if Christmas leaves you feeling stressed rather than blessed, what can you do about it?  Well, one of my beliefs is that when we’re faced with a situation, we have two choices.  We can either change the situation, or we can embrace the situation.

            What that means is that if the hectic pace of Christmas has you feeling stressed, take a look at the list of things you have to do.  Then think, “Do I really have to do these things?  Or am I choosing to do these things?”  The chances are there at least some of the things on our lists that we are choosing to do.  What that means is that we can choose not to do them, too.  Maybe that’s what we need to do to reduce our stress.  Or, maybe just recognizing that we are choosing to do these things, rather than required to do them, will remind us of why you started doing them in the first place and will help us regain the feeling of joy that we felt when we started doing them.

            If there is nothing on our list of things to do that we can remove, then let’s embrace that.  Let’s find joy in having a busy, hectic month.  Let’s feel the joy of going to the concerts and the parties and the games.  Let’s feel the joy of seeing family and taking the kids to see Santa.  And I certainly hope we can all feel the joy of going to the church Christmas program and to our Christmas Eve services.

            December is going to be busy for a lot of us.  But that busy-ness does not have to lead to stress.  If there’s something we can change that will reduce our stress, let’s change it.  If there’s not, then let’s embrace the season for what it is.  And either way, let’s not forget what we are celebrating--the human birth of our Savior, the divine Son of God, Jesus Christ.