I made up that word. Hustle-less.
I think for most of my life I look at December and instantly feel the anxiousness of the month come upon my already rather anxious soul. When I was a kid the holidays were magical – for me. Do you remember? Maybe you don’t have that memory but I can remember December feeling like the LONGEST month of the whole year. Now I kind of dread that first mention on the radio of guess what! only this many days until Christmas! It’s not that I don’t like Christmas, my friends. I’ve just grown a bit weary and skeptical of this season and the busy.
Oh it starts simple, a party here, decorations there, class celebrations, pictures, cards, new recipes, concerts, performances, work events, and then, just like this list it just grows.
I want to learn to enjoy the holidays again.
I want to be a person in the line at Starbucks who has patience and sees the barista, not the line.
I want to learn that less is actually more and that all the things we are being told that we NEED to buy won’t change anyone’s lives. Despite what the internet, magazine, television, and our kids would like us to believe.
I want my kids to not adopt this same stress filled pace that is so easy to jump into.
I want the magic, the simplicity, the calm again.
But a holidays without the hustle?
How is that possible, honestly?
I think back to the first Christmas after my divorce. It was so raw, yet so simple. Yes simple because I chose to say no to doing all the extras. But now that space has crept back into my life, thank goodness, the space is trying to be filled with hustle during the holidays.
Aren’t the holidays when we try to celebrate peace?
But there it is – that hustle, hustle, hustle – for what?
To keep up? To be happy? To celebrate?
I think the secret to a hustle-less holidays is different for each of us and is dependent on the season and each of us.
Yes, you can breathe. This is not a post about selling everything, not making cookies and becoming the Grinch. Unless, of course, that’s your dream.
It’s not about doing less or buying less or decorating less. It’s about figuring out your groove for this season. Maybe it is only a couple boxes of decorations or the all out make your house look like the massively illuminated house from the Griswold’s. Maybe you buy boxed cookies at Kroger or maybe you realize that cookie making is a tradition for your family and you spend a weekend. Maybe you buy one present or maybe a bunch. Maybe you are in charge of your 5th grader’s holiday party (can we even label it that now) or maybe you’re scrounging around for a $5 gift for their gift exchange. Maybe, maybe, maybe….
You see the secret to finding that sweet hustle-less peace isn’t by following someone’s six steps to a calm Christmas program – it’s really figuring out the pulse of your family and what you love.
Hustle is only a hustle when you’re pushing yourself super hard to create change.
Do you need to change your holiday story? Or do you need to embrace your story?
Hustle is great, but it can be distorted during the holidays because we can become caught up in this wave of busy and keeping up.
Figure out your hustle.
And be proud of it.
Be proud of how you celebrate. Because you know, your kids won’t think back and remember the crazy – they’ll remember the stories you tell and helped create. They’ll talk about the simple things or the My kids tell stories of my Christmas two years ago when we moved the DAY after Christmas. Think about that. Crazy?
But it has become a favorite for them.
Memories are beautiful.
Hustle for your family in the way that hustle-less for you.
That’s what matters.
~Rachel
