Is it "the most wonderful time of the year?"

As I sit this morning, sipping my coffee, gazing at my Christmas tree (which isn't perfect this year), I am feeling so many different emotions. This is suppose to be "the most wonderful time of the year", but is it? I am counting the days and hours for Christmas break. I want my whole family to be home (with no threat of COVID) for a couple of days. COVID is still upon us, and everyday we are seeing the numbers rise, people are ill, love ones have passed and some are struggling to survive. I advocate for positive thinking, creating your own house of motivation, inspiration and happy thoughts, but today I am struggling. I pray constantly for the health (both mental & physical) of my family and loved ones. So today I am calling on the help of all my prayer warriors. I have decided to switch gears and focus on being grateful.

Let me start by telling you about my not so perfect Christmas tree. This is the 8th year that we have used our current Christmas tree, and I guess it's the last. Some of the branches were broken in the middle of the tree, but no problem, the ornaments will camoflauge it, so you won't be able to see the broken branches. I always pride myself on having this perfect tree, decorated with ornaments that date back to precious moments (like my daughter's 2nd grade reindeer picture, or the golden ballet slippers which was my first Christmas after I got married). We always sprinkle in new ornaments every year. This year my family and I adorned this Christmas tree with all of these wonderful ornaments and the ah ha moment comes when we plug the tree in to turn on the lights. We plug the tree in and some of the lights flickered, flashed and went out. So this year my Christmas tree has only a small section of light, right in the belly of the tree, and everywhere else is dark. The tree looks good in the day, but at night, it lacks the lighting needed to highlight those special ornaments (or special moments). I guess I could have tried to remedy this light issue, but I didn't even bother to try. This not so perfect tree is perfect for this Christmas.

Here's my promise to myself. Every time I get consumed by the damage COVID has caused, I will switch gears and start thinking about all the things I am currently grateful for. I plan to get lost in pure joy as I think about: my son's smile, snuggling with the hubby, doing the jerk dance with my girls, my mom's hug, Marsha sharing old pics from the past, me and my sisters together on Thanksgiving, the smell of coffee and food all through out the house, fuzzy socks, comfy pajamas with no bra, authentic laughter from the belly, etc.

Happy GRATEFUL Holidays!