By AMY FREESE
DesignHer Living columnist

Ready or not, or should I say, like it or not, the holidays are here; the ‘happy’ holidays that we have been promised and have been celebrating for the last  2000-plus years with the hopes that our hearts and homes would be filled with warm and cozy feelings of joy, love, and peace.  So, hmmm, if that’s the promise then why are there so many of us feeling dread rather than delight when we see the flickering lights shining so brightly even if it’s before the turkey’s are gobbled?

You know, as I sit here writing this I think I’m one of those drive-by’s who mutters ‘really’ under my breath when I ‘judge’ that people’s festivities are beginning a little too soon in my book.   But maybe those overachievers got it right, maybe they really are overflowing with joy, love, and peace and they can’t wait to inspire all of us mutterers.

Who am I to judge?   I mean, aren’t we supposed to have the Christmas spirit in our hearts all year through?  If the truth were known, maybe we should be stringing our lights and hanging our garland for all to see every day of the year no matter if our spirit- filled retailers are celebrating or not.

For me, I almost feel like I embrace the true meaning of Christmas less during the Christmas season when it is expected.  Does my heart change? No, but it does seem I have to grab a hold harder and cling tighter to the true meaning in December than in any other month.  It seems that the focus of the celebration being on that of our Savior being born and on the celebration of God humbling himself and loving us enough to become human, let alone a baby, in order for us to be able to experience joy, love, and peace can become lost in the shuffle of shopping lists, tangled up in tinsel, and watered down in politically correct correspondence. 

No matter what time we made it to the mall on Black Friday, no matter if we have cover-of-a-magazine worthy decorations, and no matter if everything arrives under our Christmas tree, joy, love, and peace will not be ours the whole year through if we don’t focus on keeping the main thing the main thing.

Lights are going to twinkle brighter, songs will sound smoother, and presents will have more punch if we don’t get swept up into the ‘holicraze’ just because everyone else is.  Sure you might need to be a little more schedule savvy and organized … lists aren’t just for Santa and life coaches.

Choose to be organized this Christmas so you can enjoy what the season truly stands for and maybe we’ll even be able to reflect light to those around us.  Let’s keep our festivities from becoming frazzled and our tinsel from getting tangled by focusing on lighting up the joy, love, and peace from the inside out.

 It really can be a wonderful time of the year just like any time of the year if we choose. 

If you’d like some ‘unstressful’ ideas to create a bit more magic and memories for you and yours this season, please visit my blog at amyfreese.com.

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 Amy Freese is a professional life coach, motivational speaker and Brentwood mom. Contact her at amy@freeser.net or visit her website at www.amyfreese.com.