This one leaned heavily on the genius of A Christmas Carol, replacing the outside-of-time ghosts with a Santa who happily made time during his busy Christmas schedule to give a corporate leader the opportunity to work through twelve Groundhog Day-like chances at figuring out exactly why his daughter resented him. Turned out, the answer was:
"I was so busy trying to give you a better tomorrow, I wasn't in any of your todays." And now, I myself step into a trope, talking about Presence versus Presents, though I want to focus on YOUR worthiness.
You are Worthy of Your Presence If you're like me and the hundreds of clients I've supported across the last two decades, there's a good chance that you do a bang-up job of creating holiday experiences and memories for your loved ones and yet wake up the next day only to realize that your experience and memory of it are filled almost solely with perseverations on to-do lists, too much alone time in the kitchen, running around making sure everyone has what they need, and... well... what would you add to that list?
But what if you deemed yourself just as worthy of your presence and the experiences and the memories you work so hard to create? Stories give us the answers, and then brilliant folks tell our minds what our hearts and bodies have just learned.
The day after watching that movie, I heard one of my favorite psychotherapists say, "There's no difference between being good to yourself and being a shining light to the community."
Of course, it's logical. Another trope of putting on your own mask first... blah... blah... blah... But this isn't about surviving.
It's about deeming yourself worthy of your attention in a season for which we are conditioned to "give it all away."
And perhaps it's about eliminating the unsettling resentments toward yourself (and others) that stack up year after year.
What if you kept some of that presence for yourself this year?
What if you dipped your toe into some righteous selfishness?
What if that single act made you radiate a light that inspired others to ask, "Hey, is there anything I can do?"
It's worth the experiment, isn't it? If you counted yourself worthy of your own presence and the experiences and the memories you want everyone else to have, what would DO or NOT DO this holiday?
Merry merry, my friends!
p.s. At Saved By Story, we're hosting a "co-author in community" event in January. Check out the details below and let me know if you'd like to join us! |