YOUR LIFE A-Z:LOVE

Don't Let Love be an Illusion

LOVE

Wow the TWENTY-MINUTE Coach made it almost to the end of the year without using this word LOVE.  As Tina Turner sings, “What does LOVE have to do with it?”  LOVE is considered an action verb but is often referred to as a state of being.  For instance,  “I am in LOVE.”  LOVE comes up during the holiday season because LOVE is the assumed connection that brings family and friends together.  However, if the holiday season was not over-commercialized what would you choose to do with this time of year?  Who would you choose to invite to your holiday table if you did not feel like you should?  Who would you buy gifts for if you did not have too?  The definition of LOVE implies deep affection, endearment, and fondness.  What prevents you from feeling those feelings from those you choose to be around for the holiday?  If resentment, judgment and uncomfortable emotions hinder you from really LOVING those around you during this time of year, why not let go of those negative emotions and replace those emotions with LOVE.   Everyone has a story to tell.  Everyone has personal pain in his/her life even if they choose not to acknowledge it.  Difficult emotions are shunned in our society.  It is time to quit denying those difficult emotions and allow yourself to explore them in order that you can be emotionally free to really LOVE.  LOVE and the actions of LOVE are best practiced with a genuine heart of fondness.  Let go and learn to LOVE this holiday season.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:JOLLY

                                                 JOLLY

BE JOLLY AND ENJOY 

Happy, cheerful, light-hearted and playful are some of the words that describe JOLLY.   Santa Claus is described as JOLLY and Christmas songs tell us to have a JOLLY Christmas.  Now, that is not possible if you have spun yourself into the commercial web and built a fortress of “should” for the holiday.  Let go of the holiday stress and make JOLLY an honorable goal for you and your family this season.  What do you want to joyfully do for this holiday season?  Do that and you will find that not only are you joyful but there will be a sense of JOLLINESS inside of you. You may find yourself belting out Christmas songs from the bottom of your solar plexus and dancing around holiday lights just because there is JOLLY sense of fun and excitement in the air.  When a “should” pops up and says, “You should ________________________.”  Laugh at it and speak your mind back to that “should.” Tell it, “Hey, I am having fun.  If you need to be grumpy right now, then go ahead but I am doing what I want.”  Use Christmas bags so that you don’t have to waste time wrapping gifts that will be torn up in seconds.  Give yourself permission to order Christmas dinner if you don’t want to cook.  If you don’t have small kids get up when you want.  If you do have small kids learn to enjoy the chaos.  Have a JOLLY good time enjoying precious moments with those you love and like.  Minimize your time with those you don’t like! Express JOLLY and watch it grow.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z: ILLUMINATIONS

Illuminate Your Path

ILLUMINATIONS

Light it up and let it be radiant everywhere during this holiday season.  For me, there is something magical about holiday lights and the more lights the merrier.  Colorful red, green, orange, purple, gold, white, and any variety of ILLUMINATIONS make the holiday season a magical wonderland of mystery and delight.  Get out of your house.  Walk your neighborhood and look at the decorations of ILLUMINATIONS throughout your neighborhood.  Drive through neighborhoods and enjoy the ILLUMINATIONS in their many displays from Santa to Snoopy.  Take a Christmas lights tour on a bus or find places like zoos, parks, hotels that ILLUMINATE every inch of their property for your enjoyment.  In 18^th century Germany, the wealthy decorated their Christmas trees with real candles and that tradition traveled internationally until electricity became widely used.  In 1895, President Grover Cleveland lit the first outdoor Christmas tree at the White House.  The darkness of winter, the mystery of the Christ child, the magic of Kris Kringle, St. Nick, and Santa Claus seem to thrive in the ILLUMINATIONS of holiday spirit.  What in your life needs to be ILLUMINATED with some light in order for you to navigate the dark waters of your life a bit better?  Where in your life can ILLUMINATIONS be helpful to you right now?  Sometimes you cannot change the darkness of a situation in your life, but what would happen if you added ILLUMINATION to the darkness in order that you could see better and be less afraid?  ILLUMINATION brings light and light helps when darkness abounds.  Enjoy the holiday ILLUMINATIONS.