The Day After Christmas
So here we are on December 26th, the day after Christmas. After a holiday season filled with shopping, Christmas lights, planned visits with families, Christmas plays and celebrations of all sorts, holiday treats and cookies, school events, church events, Christmas day festivities and of course the sharing and opening of gifts…what now? The busyness of the season is seemingly wrapping up (no pun intended) and to-do lists are finally checked off or moved on from, all leaving us with the ultimate question, what do we do now? How do we proceed forward with the new year upon us, with the old year closing quickly behind us, and more importantly, are we better for everything we’ve done? Or are we still the same, just a tad older and more tired? What do we do with all of the things involved with Christmas now complete, and all of the things of the new year facing us down? Today I would like to invite you to stop for just a moment to consider three simple yet profoundly important steps that you can practice right here and now. If you are willing to take a moment to read on, then I encourage you, dear reader, to prayerfully consider making these steps a monthly, weekly or even daily practice.
Pause
The very idea of pausing in life is not one we are always adept at or comfortable with. In a culture that pushes us to always be doing, always be busy and always be achieving, let me suggest that to always be “on” is not only physically exhaustive, but mentally and emotionally as well. Our finite lives lived in finite bodies certainly were designed for some level of hard work and utilization, but is it possible that doing too much is as detrimental as doing nothing at all? In the midst of this busy season, here the day after Christmas, let me invite you to pause. To stop, to slow down, to breathe in the moment of the day, to put down a task or to say no altogether to one more thing does not make you a bad person and it does not make you lazy. You are called to steward the life and the body given to you by an almighty God and in that I would encourage you to just pause today.
Reflect
If we do not naturally or regularly take time to pause our lives, then it is very likely we also do not reflect. The truth is that much of the counseling process is reflection, asking the right questions to assist with recognizing what we feel and think. This reflection process can actually be a regular practice if we allow it. I would encourage you today to start with some basic assessment questions. What am I thinking about right now (as in, what are the actual thoughts running across my mind)? What am I feeling right now emotionally, and why? How do I feel about this Christmas season that has come and passed? What am I thankful for this season? What might I be grieving this season? Am I carrying any unresolved bitterness or regrets? All of these questions, when we slow down long enough to ask them, tell us an awful lot about our hearts and where they are currently positioned.
Grow
The idea of stopping long enough to pause and reflect is only as helpful as it provides us insight into our own hearts and minds, and allows us to find direction therein. Now let me remind you that this world provides plenty of “suggestions” on how we ought to grow as individuals. Some of these hedonistic suggestions include, “Do what makes you happy”, or “Find your own truth” or the more concise but still as dangerous, “You do you!” Might I suggest today a growth mindset that could ultimately become the most important question you could ever reflect on in lieu of these otherwise worldly perspectives, “How can I become more like Christ?” Paul entreats us regularly in his letters to submit to God and to, “not conform nay longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) Many of us, if we are honest, would willingly continue on a path we are on, even if that path is riddled with frustrations, stresses, anxieties, fears, regrets and resentments; but to grow and become more like Christ is to choose to steward what God has blessed us with in a way that honors and glorifies God, and offers fulfillment to the life we have been blessed with.
Many of us can become easily distracted by the busyness of life, especially during times like the Christmas season. The idea of growing requires first that we pause to reflect on what is and what has been, in order to seek the Lord first for direction and transformation. There is a dangerous temptation which faces us during seasons such as this, to continue to walk the same path we are on without thought of what we ought to do instead. So instead of letting the busyness of this season drag us exhaustively into the next, may we instead pause, reflect, and grow into this next year.
