So can you feel it yet?  You know, the end of year pressure.  And it seems to get heavier every year.

I’m talking about the pressure of: “I have to make sure I catch up with all those people that I haven’t so far this year…and finish the home renovation…and buy all my Christmas presents… entertain the kids…organise Christmas lunch…service the car…tidy the garage…”  

And that cherry of all pressures: ‘Lets make this the best Christmas ever’.

Come on, admit it.  You do the same thing as all of us. If you don’t then please stop reading now.

Still here?  Good.


My ‘December planet’ theory

The end of year takes on ‘planet status’ - entitling it to its own gravitational pull.  The December planet drags everything and everyone into its orbit.  But remember…

…it only has gravity if you give it gravity.

Coming to the end of the year is not the end of the world.  If you don’t get everything done by December 30, the sky won’t fall. 

Look back at past years.  

Remember all the things you wanted to get done before the end of each year?  Was your life was so much better for driving yourself to near meltdown for a measly Christmas lunch or getting the pool finished?

Don’t get me wrong.  I am a great fan of deadlines and planning (oh, and celebration).  However, as we head into December, plans seem to go out the window and chaos takes over. 

Not only do we expect certain things to come to fruition, but we seem to step into a frenzy of taking on more things than we would normally consider.

I call it the ‘cleaning out the Tupperware cupboard theory’.

The story begins on a Sunday morning.  You have nothing to do and nowhere to be.  Maybe you will cook yourself a nice breakfast… So you open the cupboard to get the fry pan out.  A whole heap of pots and pans fall out.  It’s a stainless steel avalanche.  You’ve been meaning to reorganise this, and now you have the time. 

In the process of reorganising the pots, you find a Tupperware container lid. So you go to the cupboard where it belongs.  As you open said cupboard… there’s another avalanche.  This time of the plastic kind.

To cut a long story short:

Four hours later you are into the garage shelves. The house looks like a cyclone hit it.  And you are cranky.  Why?  Because your blood sugar is literally zero from not eating breakfast yet.  And – the way things are going - it will be Monday by the time you do.


The motto of the story

Keep it in perspective this December.  Don’t be pulled into the chaos orbit and bury yourself in Tupperware avalanches. 
This Christmas, celebrate your life just as it is - with all its glorious imperfections.  You’ll find it makes it easier for your friends, colleagues and loved ones to enjoy theirs, too.