Simplification

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
- Leonardo da Vinici

I love the holidays. Thanksgiving through New Years should be the most joyous time of the year, but unfortunately for me (and likely for most us), it's usually the most stressful time of year. At the end of each holiday season, I look back and find it such a shame that I had rushed, rushed, rushed to "get things done" and I had filled my schedule to the point that I couldn't even remember why those seemingly critical things had been so vital. In the end I always come away with some really happy memories, but they are sprinkled with the regret that I didn't slow down just a bit in order to relish the elements of the season that are truly meaningful.

So this year I decided to simplify. Some might call it lazy-ify, but I call it prioritization. :-) I decided that some things needed to be postponed, some simply had to be taken down a notch, and others had to go (like an outrageous birthday party for my boys which, let's face it, was more for me than it was for them). I decided that my Christmas present to me was that I was going to allow myself to be stress-free.

And. It. Was. Amazing.

I didn't go overboard with Thanksgiving. I didn't make my usual hand-made menus and table place cards, and my decorations weren't quite as snazzy. It was still a perfectly lovely dinner with family members that we love.

I didn't throw the boys a huge birthday bash. Instead, Jeremy and I took a day off work, we stayed an extra night at Great Wolf Lodge and we spent some real quality time together as a family - time that we wouldn't have had together otherwise. And (you guessed it) the boys didn't even realize that they had missed out on a party. ;)

I decided not to have any Christmas parties this year, but we carried on our usual Christmas traditions. My Christmas treats didn't get delivered until the day after Christmas and my homemade Christmas cards weren't mailed out until 12/29; but it didn't matter. What mattered in the end was that we spent almost every December evening together - decorating gingerbread men, playing games, watching Christmas movies, serving others, and talking about Christ (and, I'm sure, dreaming about Santa).

What did I come away with? A handful of treasures that will never be forgotten or taken away from me - a truer understanding of myself, increased gratitude for my multitude of blessings, an even closer relationship with Jeremy and my boys, a stronger desire to serve others, and a deeper testimony of Jesus Christ (the true reason for the season).

This was the best holiday season ever.