Whatcha Doing??

 Church was good this evening and I even remember the homily! It began,"Whatcha doing Christmas?" Yes, some will be alone, some have no family, others will be grieving the loss of a spouse, child, parent, even a pet, perhaps. This is a challenging time for many. 

My niece called me to inform me of the family plans for Christmas. It hit me at Thanksgiving of not wanting to be "forgotten." So, tonight the priest's words hit home! He mentioned several ways to "reach out." I had made a mental list to call a couple of friends the next couple of days. 

Then the phone rang twice today from friends wishing me Merry Christmas!  Other ways to reach out could be by taking a meal to a friend, sending a note, taking time to visit...you name it.  

So, from my house to your house, a blessed Merry Christmas to you and yours! You may know what you're doing but there may be some who are alone or not in a good space.  So, whatever you're doing, somehow, reach out to someone who will appreciate not being forgotten. 

Ready?

 Whether we're ready or not, Christmas is near! This time gives us preparation time...shopping time, baking time, cleaning time.  What we don't go through to get ready. And sure enough, it's one  of the hugest religious holidays for Christians.

But what about preparing for something else!  How about preparing our spiritual life, ridding ourselves of anger/resentments, hurts and feeling sorry for ourselves.  What would our spirit feel like if we let go of grudges toward others, offered forgiveness to those who have hurt us or reached out to those in need helping ourselves get off of the pity pot. 

Yes, "'tis the season." But perhaps the season is much larger than what we originally imagined. Not only our physical surroundings need our attention but our spiritual surroundings need it, too!

So, when we're making our list and checking it twice, let us not forget our own spiritual needs of how we are preparing for the most important person.  Yes, Santa, but more importantly, that babe in a manger, Jesus.  How can we make room in our own heart so His love, peace and presence can come to us! Get ready!

 

Very Frustrating!

I just know there are those of you who have encountered frustrating ordeals with passwods and trying to sign into online accounts!  I have been fighting with mine for the past  hour, swearing I was putting it in all correctly!  Yea, right!  Then I looked further on my paper and it was not!!  Then I hit the wrong key or forget a letter!!  Very frustrating!

I used to encounter the same high frustration when I sewed or tried to knit!  Now, I do neither, or very little. So, I just gave my password attempt up, for now, and will continue another day. 

What do you do when very frustrated?  The topic can be most anything from politics...don't get me started and don't start with me yourself...weather, snow plowing, you name it.  And it seems with about each topic one exclamation mark is not enough!!! LOL. 

I have found myself refusing to engage in certain conversations and if someone begins I calmly say I really don't want to discuss that topic.  TV even gets turned off; too much is too much. My spirit gets churned up and we do have a choice about how we tend to it.

What do you do to tend to your spirit?  I know winter is here and it's chilly outside but how do you maintain a calm demeanor, warm friendships and acceptable relationships with others, God and yourself!  It doesn't matter what our frustrations in life are but it does matter how we deal with them in order to not ruin our own spirit or our relationship with others. 

It can happen so easily; it's best to not think only that our ways/thoughts are the only ones.  It might be best to take some space to calm down and let the frustration to dissipate! It's amazing how such a simple suggestion can help.