Create Experiences, not Obstacles, for the Holiday Season

A bit of advance planning - and action - can work wonders for living in balance, especially during the holidays. With Thanksgiving just weeks away, now is the time to be intentional about planning some experiences that can balance out the frenzy of the holiday season. Take a look at your calendar for December, make some calls to plan a dinner party, a girls’ lunch, or an outing to see The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, or something else that sounds like fun. A bit of planning can go a long way, as those who joined my “No More Excuses for Entertaining” Field Trip learned last month. The same holds true for virtually every other aspect of life, whether it’s home maintenance or holiday preparation.

As you are checking the calendar, why not block out some time for your holiday shopping and plan to have someone join you, whether it is your spouse or a good friend? Gift giving should be a joy for the givers as well as the receivers, and it needn’t be a solo effort in the chaos of crowded stores and backed-up traffic. I assure you, the holiday spirit is alive and well in November, with a chill in the air and early-bird retailers all decked out for the holidays. Here in Atlanta, there is the added bonus of the Partners Card, which gets you a 20% discount for 10 days, between November 3rd and 11th, while benefiting Camp Twin Lakes at the same time (see What’s News for details). For the past 15 years or so, my husband and I have made a date out of gift shopping. We book a sitter and spend the day together doing our shopping with a nice lunch to break the day up, and often a movie in the evening to celebrate our efforts. A week or two later, we make a point of wrapping the gifts together, which makes the task so much nicer than doing it solo!

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