I COULD USE A LITTLE HELP HERE

I could use a little help here!

I’m not sure how it happened, but I suddenly find myself in the midst of Christmas. There are only ten days left until after Christmas. Yoicks! How could this happen? Where was I when the memo went out?

In the past, I could rely on seeing Christmas decorations appearing on every street corner directly after Thanksgiving … sort of like the five-minute warning buzzer letting me know time was running out.  But now the Santas, and the ribbons, and the glitter, and tinsel, the reindeer, the snowmen and the wreaths all show up directly after the back-to-school rush, leaving me with seasonal blindness. There is no urgency when we haven’t even gotten to Columbus Day or Halloween or Thanksgiving. But then again, it isn’t like I don’t have this same seasonal blindness every year. In fact, calling it seasonal blindness is a crock. 

My mother would have called it what it is … procrastination. She always felt that procrastination could be productive. Her exact phrase was, “Procrastination Pays.” For sure, it certainly gets the creative juices going when one is left with a deadline. But that is not what she meant. She felt time is a gift,  and in putting off all the folderol and fuss of the season, or in postponing preparations for an event, or in refusing to get revved up about some looming business, one is recognizing the gift for what it is. When left with only limited window of time, one’s priorities become very clear. In fact, that … DROP EVERYTHING, THEY ARE AT THE DOOR … feeling can work very well to simplify one’s life. 

In my mother’s case, when company was expected, she would spend the lead up getting the main dish into the oven, and clearing the chairs of newspapers and magazines and in general making sure things were sort of organized. Then she would sit down with a cup of tea and finish the morning paper. After that she was prepared to entertain, and also enjoy her company. She had clearly defined priorities, and she felt strongly that one should not sweat the small stuff. She didn’t really like cooking, so she got that over early, usually preparing something that could go into the oven and be forgotten. Then, with the general spiffing and clearing done, she was free to relax and have some down time so that when immersed in the social scrum, she could listen and enjoy. It was an amazing ability … that recognition of priorities. 

However, the procrastination-pays rule can also be successfully applied to situations that require one to prepare for those obligations that produce anxiety. Here the rule is most often used when, for instance your meeting is cancelled and you now have another month to read that boring report and make intelligent conversation about it …voila! Procrastination pays. I mean you might have read the report two weeks ago. How smart to have procrastinated. Now you won’t have to read it again because if you had read it you would most likely have forgotten what it was about before the next meeting rolls around.

So now here be I … mired in procrastination and seasonal overload. And let’s face it isn’t as if Christmas is going to be cancelled. So, I guess it is time to roll out the priority trolley and get to work on my inertia. Mayhap I shall smother my bah-humbug in ribbon and pine. But before I get myself all wrapped up in to-do lists and twee twinkle lights, I want to once again wish all of you a truly healthy and happy holiday season. 

With grace and good will let us ring in a new year and bring meaning to the phrase, PEACE ON EARTH.