December 24, 2019 12amSara Spector

I recently gave this meditation at a Body Back class. It happened to be the Saturday before Christmas, and we were sharing what we had left to do. Coming off of a crazy week of 2 holiday parties, remaining Christmas shopping, planning a Christmas Eve dinner, trying to remember to send the holiday cards…I was stressed. I was beyond stressed – I was frazzled, annoyed at the season and not in any way enjoying myself.

I took a step back and realized…everything I was doing, the hand-dipped pretzels for the classroom, the perfectly planned outfits, it was all for me. I was doing it based on my perception of my own expectations and faced the actuality that NOBODY CARES! Those kids did not care that I carefully hand-dipped each and every pretzel, the kids won’t care that they “get to” wear freshly pressed shirts, or that their mommy has the perfect Christmas dress. The moment I realized this was my own doing, I relaxed.

So mamas, here is that meditation, 1 day before Christmas. Read it. Relax. Enjoy the memories of the season and know that You. Are. LOVED!

~ S

Holiday Meditation

There are so many expectations on us this season. Of the women we will be, of how our family will be, of all the things we will make, of all the things we will deliver, expectations about the experience that everyone around us will have. A lot of these expectations, if not all of them, we put on ourselves. We tell ourselves that every single day will look like the family holiday photo ideas we have been pinning on Pinterest. We set out to make Christmas cookies for everyone in the neighborhood. We can just imagine exactly how happy our kids will be with each carefully and lovingly selected gift we have patiently and delicately wrapped up for them [said with some sarcasm ;) ].

And we find ourselves feeling sad, feeling sad at a time when we feel like we should just be overflowing with happiness. I really like this quote from Michael J. Fox, so much so that, like they do in college when they really want you to remember something, I am going to repeat it: "My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” Look at it again. Repeat it.

As you lay here, please place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly. As you breathe, I want you to shift your expectations slightly. Expect that you are going to have the experiences you are meant to have. Expect that you will make memories that will fill your heart all the next year. Expect that you are loved and worthy, in this room, in your home, and in this world, exactly as you are at this moment. You do not need to make all the cookies, wrap all the presents, take all the photos, match all the pajamas to expect that you will be loved and worthy.

Let the season play out as it will and expect that it will surprise you. Let your happiness be the greatest memory you keep from this season.

Happy Holidays!

FIT4MOM Central East Valley