“Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some”
― Charles Dickens
That’s right Chuck. And that’s just what I’m going to do.
Christmas time snuck up on me. In every way imaginable. If you’ve been popping in and out to see if I ever finished my 12 Handmade Days of Christmas segment, well……I did not. It is December 26th and I officially never made it past Handmade Day 5.
I was busy crafting, I promise. My husband and I made every gift we gave this year with the exception of one and we may or may not have been crafting on Christmas Eve to get it done.
The truth is the Christmas season started out rough this year. Last year around the holidays my parents decided to call it quits after 28 years of marriage. I was not terribly shocked by the announcement and so I thought I was prepared for the course of events to follow. Almost a year after the divorce, I realized I was ill-equipped. I had made it through Christmas 2010 in survival mode. This year every possible emotion hit me like a freight train with no warning. It was a nasty pill to swallow. And all of those emotions were exacerbated by the holiday season.
But I pushed through. And I bandaged some wounds that I didn’t know would be wide open at the worst possible time of the year. Wounds that no one ever told me happen to adult children of divorce. And by Christmas morning I think I had finally come to terms with my broken and blended family holiday. I forced myself to participate in family events that I feared might closely resemble an episode of The Jerry Springer Show. They did not. Some came close. But the crisis was averted. Narrowly. But averted nonetheless.
On top of it all, it rained here the ENTIRE week before Christmas and even on Christmas Day. So, seasonal affective disorder was coupled with unhealthy-coping-itis.
So, now you know where I was for so long. I was hiding in my bed/on the couch/watching Days of Our Lives to remind myself that it’s not so bad – Stefano DiMera could have me locked in his basement. That’s how I cope.
So, while I was busy occupying myself with junk food and junk television programming, I got behind on my real-life handmade Christmas and had to devote the rest of my craft time to finishing those gifts for family. And since some of the recipients of those handmade gifts read this here blog, I couldn’t use those crafts for my segment.
And because I was in such an unexpected funk, I was wary of posting here for fear that I would be a drag during the holiday season.
So, long story short…….I was in a funk! And I’m going to try to leave that funk in 2011. No funk in the new year. Except on the dance floor. Which doesn’t apply to me anyway. So, NO FUNK IN 2012!
Now I’m in goal setting mode. That’s my other coping mechanism, if you didn’t know. It’s my universal coping mechanism. I’ve used it to distract, motivate, and even to focus. I think it is much healthier than my avoiding/denial/soap opera watching method of coping, don’t you?
And the end of the year is a perfect time for goal setting. No need to wait until January. Get those goals for the New Year down so you can promptly start on them January 1st!
And while I’m goal setting I’m going to try to reflect on 2011 as well. I think it will help with setting up my goals for 2012. If I look at where I’ve been and what I did in 2011, I think I will be able to say, “That didn’t work, let’s try this instead” or “I see where my strengths are so let’s use them in this way next year”, and so on.
I already have a Manifesto for Life to guide my goals on a large scale. But goal setting at the end of each year is great for mapping out how you will really start to take steps to move towards those large scale life goals. And goal setting at the end of the year is the perfect time to review your manifesto and make changes or additions based on what you’ve learned over the past year or what you’ve accomplished.
Moving to the top of the manifesto? Save for therapy.
Just kidding.
Sort of.
Also moving up on the list? Start Christmas plans earlier if they are to be handmade. Say, December 26th?
That oughta do it.
So, to close out the Christmas season I’ll reiterate Charles Dickens. It ain’t that bad, it could be worse, I am reminded to find a silver lining, and I will try to count my blessings often.
Overall, Christmas was not too shabby. Yay for 2012!
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