What the Hell’s so special about December? Absolutely nothing. Calendars are changed time & again, traditions are tweaked over the years & holidays are moved about as if in competition. Thus, it’s not the month, the time of year nor even the holidays being celebrated we should give a damn about. It’s the opportunity to do so. Although those opportunities aren’t equally distributed across countries or throughout various job descriptions, the emphasis on the very things we should be giving particular attention to year round is just about universal. Let’s not look a gift horse in its proverbial mouth.

Hi there, horse called gift, what mouth? I just appreciate YOU! These intersecting holidays, traditions & family gatherings that come at the end of every year have brilliant timing. What better way to wrap up one year & prepare for the next?! It’s not about resolutions but rather refining the resolution in which you view your life. Our lives are not only larger pictures made of smaller panes but are each a small pane in the larger picture that is the world. That creates two important responsibilities. Regardless of our personal level of awareness, we are world citizens & yet must heed the needs in our own lives in order to have anything to give.

Give yourself the best gift of all — take stock. By focusing on what’s most important to you, you’ll know what to spend your time on through the holidays & every day as well as what goals to work toward in the new year. It’s the simplest equation in life; by prioritizing the things that matter, we have more time to enjoy & make the most of them. You may not be looking for or even want change but you most likely do want a continuation of what’s good in your life. That’s only possible by supporting those very things (& people). Beyond not taking all we value for granted, neither can we take for granted what is & isn’t possible. Question your status quo.

“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal,
and that every path may lead to peace.”
~ Agnes M. Pharo ~

We’ve got a shitload of celebrating going on & a practically universal focus on all the salient issues.. As I said last year, take advantage:

Be it merry or happy, Chanukah or Advent, Kwanzaa or Boxing Day, Winter Solstice or multiple choice; may the season hold both meaning & moments of joy. Whether you’re recreating traditions or creating new ones, have spent too much or have nothing to spend, what’s clear & what matters is taking the time to reflect. What do you believe, what are you open to &, moreover, who do you love but, most importantly, how are you showing it? From taking time to be kind to yourself to the thoughtfulness you’re showing to those around you, it’s not that December has a corner on the market nor should but with all these holidays intertwining; take advantage, people! [Do read the rest, if you haven't already.]

My own life has changed this past year yet stayed the same in important ways. I lost Taz but gained Pagan, Dave lost the job that made our new home possible but is following his heart, we had to forgive ourselves the debts & accept the miracles but still have no furniture. What we’re always striving for are small but effective changes, sustainable choices & a continued focus on only that which improves our lives. Whatever your take on those ideals, seize this opportunity to set aside anything that’s not adding to your overall happiness. From how we celebrate the holidays themselves to what we plan for our futures, let’s not be afraid of failure nor let ourselves be derailed by it. If anything, it should rerail us.

Failing towards success: Discover what doesn’t work & let it go. If anything goes wrong (or less than right — read “not as planned”) this holiday, laugh it off & look past it to the heart of the matter. The same goes for our day-to-day living. Use your plans as guidelines, your dreams as goals & add in something just for yourself each day. Let those “selfish” moments fuel all the selfless ones while that emerging balance begins to define all you do. Have a Hell of a Happy Merry Christmaskah-Advanzaa-Boxing Solstice &, when the gift horse bucks you, just climb back on.

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays–let them overtake me unexpectedly–waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: ‘Why this is Christmas Day!’”
~ Ray Stannard Baker ~

PS: Perhaps the most significant change this Xmas is that it’ll be spent w/family for the first time in many years! RhodesTer & I have always worked jobs that only get busier this time of year; had he not been laid off, he would’ve been working til midnight both Christmas Eve & Christmas..

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”
~ Burton Hillis ~

You chose to stop by & I thank you! I chose to write & you may even thank me. Our gratitude is for each other’s choices, if also for each other.. It’s choice for which we should be thankful & no doubt assume we are. Are we using our choices, though? Like gratitude & love, to be effective, choice needs to be proactive. Choices alone don’t bring about results &, left alone, still lead to change but not of our making. We have to own our choices, appreciate them.

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want,
and all that is left is compromise.”
~ Robert Fritz ~

“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it,
that is in itself a choice.”
~ William James ~

What we do or don’t do with our choices affects the next set of possibilities we create. How empowering is that?! Not only are there any number of possibilities available to us at all times but we can change them up, often increasing our options in the process, with each choice we make. The choices we make passively — through inaction or hesitance — change up the mix too. Wouldn’t you rather choose the direction your choices are taking you?

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back,
and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
~ Buddha ~

“Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible.”
~ Cherie Carter-Scott ~

Fear of failure is a natural inclination & the typical cause of hesitation. Whereas hesitation can be prudent, make sure it’s by choice & not a result of being afraid to act. Life choices require planning thus slow & steady will bring those larger choices to fruition. During the process, there are day to day choices that can support the larger one. Brett, who I’ve mentioned, has taken such a journey on & the comment thread his announcement inspires covers great ground.

“I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not. You have to move on.”
~ Stephen Sondheim ~

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
~ Denis Waitley ~

Choices factor into everything we do, how we feel & how we feel about what we’re doing. Turning a blind eye to anything but the obvious choices undermines the additional potential each choice has. A snow-covered driveway is a good example as you could choose to simply shovel yet you could also make snow-angels. Consider making angels then shoveling or break up the shoveling with a snowball fight. Notice the bonus that you’re also less likely to work alone.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
~ William A. Foster ~

“There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.”
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

As we weave our choices together to create experiences we want & develop opportunities we’re interested in, we explore our own empowerment & learn to construct days that are never wasted by establishing new baselines. Accepting each choice, every mistake, the chosen failures as uniquely ours reveals them as the lessons & stepping stones they always had the potential to be. Appreciate choices that led to better ones & those that were right in their moment.

“Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose,
to respond, to change.”
~ Stephen R. Covey ~

“It is our choices that show what we truly are,
far more than our abilities.”
~ J. K. Rowling ~

Don’t leave well enough alone; heed what you’re feeling & either express it or act on it. It’s choice that makes our lives our own & it can’t help but improve them. From attitude-adjustments to full overhauls, by actively choosing, we’re learning to live in the moment yet that concept is often misunderstood. It’s not so much the creation of happy lives as effective ones that taking charge of our moments allows us. We’re able to choose how we feel but only if we first choose to feel thus to live.

“Life is not a continuum of pleasant choices, but of inevitable problems that call for strength, determination, and hard work.”
~ Indian Proverb ~

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing,
I would choose pain.”
~ William Faulkner ~

PS: I’m choosing to make these quote-filled posts a regular happening.