Do you feel overwhelmed with the responsibilities of this season, the preparing, the buying, the wrapping, the cooking, and trying to stay one step ahead?
Such an overworked sense of responsibility can weigh us down and destroy any enjoyment and sense of peace.
The Tip
I have one tip that can help you overcome the overwhelm.
Know that there is more than one right way to do things, and that your way is just one of many.
When we lose the need to always be right, or in charge, we are freed to experience more joy.
Relationships are strengthened when we allow others to offer suggestions and follow through on them.
Stacking the Dishes
Once I asked my then 14-year old daughter to wash the dishes, which she did willingly.
This is what I saw when I returned.
A precariously stacked pile of dishes with small bowls and plates on the bottom, cutting board balanced on top and a butcher knife on top of that.
I laughed out loud.
Knowing her she might have been creatively arranging the dishes just for fun, or she might have stacked them in the order she washed them without much thought.
Either way, after my initial laugh, I was annoyed because I saw the possible danger of a sharp, butcher knife on top of an unstable stack of dishes. This wasn’t the way I had taught her.
When I asked her about the dishes later, she replied that she had arranged them in the order she washed and rinsed them and that Dad had given her the cutting board and knife right at the end.
It wasn’t the way I would have stacked the dishes, but really, who’s to say it wasn’t a better way? Maybe her way allowed the dishes to dry faster. (And no one was really in any danger.)
And her way gave me a good laugh. That was a bonus.
How she stacked the dishes really did not matter.
They were just stacked differently from my way.
I chose not to risk damaging the relationship by insisting on what I thought was the correct way.
Are there times when the burden of responsibility causes you to insist that your plans be done your way?
Can you allow yourself to be open to the possibility that others, even though they may do things differently, have ideas that will add to your celebrations?
Perhaps even be better than your way and if not better, at least provide some humor?
I encourage you to let go of the overwhelm and be open to the ideas of others so that you may truly enjoy this special time with your loved ones?
Much love,
Peggi Starkey says
So true, Melanie. If everyone would think this way, how the world would start healing.
Melanie says
You’re so right Peggi!?