The Christmas Tree & My Lesson of When Good Enough Really is Perfect!

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I truly love Christmas time. I love all the decorations, lights, the energy of this time of year I just absolutely love all things Christmas. Little Girl Christmas As a child, Christmas at our house wasn’t all that great. I would dream of how Christmas would be when I grew up and I was the mom. On the night of putting up the Christmas Tree the house would be filled with the scent of fresh baked cookies (from scratch of course) and I would make homemade hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows. There would be cheerful Christmas music playing in the background. Everyone would be wearing their matching Christmas pj’s and of course we would all be in the happiest of moods! Our tree would be perfect! Fresh cut and decorated so well it would be worthy of the cover of Better Homes and Garden (this was before Martha Stewart). Flash forward thirty some years later: Busy Mom Every Christmas I would stress over the tree being perfect. ( note to self…this is not fun for the kids) see I was still going off of what was a perfect Christmas in my 8 year old mind. Well that 8 year old little girl didn’t anticipate 5 kids, a cat jumping on top of all the fragile ornaments and then turning the Christmas tree into its own personal playground while we are all asleep in bed. My adult self didn’t realize I was trying to fulfill my 8 year old’s little self and not really paying attention to what was making Christmas and decorating the tree perfect my own kids! Oh what a “Helloooo” moment!!! I feel the need to take a quick moment to thank my oh so patient husband for allowing me the space yet giving me an oh so gentle nudge to come to this “hello” moment. The kids love putting the ornaments on the tree that use to be a really tense time for me. Nothing like 5 identical ornaments all grouped together in one spot on the tree…breathe big deep inhale slowly release….. My husband could see my head about to explode however he helped me through it with a calming hand on my knee reminding me to breathe. It took a few years but I am proud to say I totally kept my cool this year. Guess what? Our tree is not going to be on the cover of Better Homes and Garden and Martha Stewart would most likely gasp if she saw it. Christmas tree cover magazine We did not all wear matching pj’s . The kids handled all the fragile ornaments like they were footballs (first year ever we didn’t break any while decorating! WooHoo!) We drank instant hot chocolate. There were no fresh baked cookies (Are you kidding me?!? I am still recuperating from making Thanksgiving dinner!) Woman baking The kids had a blast putting the ornaments where ever they wanted on the tree. More importantly the kids have one more good memory of decorating the Christmas tree. It may not be magazine cover perfect however our tree is good enough for us and that’s PERFECT! I am going to do my best to remember this lesson from my family when that little perfectionist inside of me wants to take center stage again. I know with their help and my amazingly patient hubby I will learn that Good Enough is Perfect and a lot more fun :D

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Changes

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“Kim the only thing consistent is change” I can still hear the voice of one of my first mentors in my head saying these words to me. I was 22 at the time and the youngest manager that company had ever hired. I like consistency. I like being prepared. Truly grasping those words was hard for me. Do we ever really like change? To be honest, you could compare me to a two year old when it comes to change. Have you ever tried taking a favorite security blanket from a two year old? Try it. You will soon discover you will do anything in your power to get it back to that screaming two year old! Security Blanket Yep, that’s right; I can throw a temper tantrum with the best of the two year olds! Let’s face it change is uncomfortable. Most of us like being comfy with our “security blankets.” Change means I am going to have to get comfortable with something new. Honestly getting comfortable with something new is just really UNCOMFORTABLE. Who wants that? For most of us adults that “security blanket” is “our story.” You know that story you tell people about you. The one that explains why you are the way you are. Talk about not liking change: Try to get someone who has had the same story for years to even consider changing it. Try it on yourself. First become aware of your story. What's your story Notice what adjectives would describe the main character in your story (that’s you by the way). Do you like being described that way? If so stop here, you’re good to go :D YAY YOU! If you don’t like the adjectives that describe the main character pick some that represent the new story you desire. Begin using them when talking about yourself, both out loud and in the self talk that goes on inside your head. Begin to change your story. Go to your support team, best friend, spouse, coach, mentor, etc… ask for their help with this. Surround yourself with people who won’t allow you to fall back on your old story. These are going to be the people that can calm that 2 year old temper throwing child inside of you. Soon you will see good changes coming your way that now align with you. Then, before you know it, you will begin to look forward to the uncomfortable because you will know it means good changes are on their way. That temper tantrum throwing 2-year old will get quieter and you’ll one day realize you don’t even know where the security blanket went …and that’s ok.

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