.....what's in for 2019

Yogis,
I’m starting to come off the Christmas high (although when I want to bring it back, I simply eat another peanut blossom cookie 😊). What an absolute whirlwind it is preparing for this holiday. The three weeks leading up are a total blur.  Shopping, traffic, noise, lists, wrapping and planning. The actual Christmas celebration is something I wouldn’t give up for the world, but the pre-frenzy……..perhaps.

On Christmas Eve morning while looking at something in the paper I came upon the horoscopes. I read mine which cautioned me to slow down and not become overwhelmed. Now that seemed accurate, so I read my son’s and my husband’s and noticed the word overwhelmed in theirs as well. Hmmm. I glanced through them all and if that word wasn’t in there, it was replaced with stress, family drama or something similarly anxiety provoking.

Then I went to a yoga class and the teacher started out by asking us all to let go of the tension of the holiday and of all the togetherness it brings. The word ‘family’ was used as well in that ‘wink wink’ sort of way.  I was noticing a trend.

Later that day this quote arrived from a friend in her Christmas greeting……..

I often hear myself saying that Christmas has become to big. Too much. Too stressful and too complicated. But after reading the quote I realized that poor Christmas had done nothing of the sort and was taking all the blame.  We are the ones who did this to ourselves. Yet again……. We humans sure know how to mess up even the simplest of things.

This quote struck a chord. Each year we see the what’s in and what’s out, but how could any of these ever be out. We only need to recognize them. Live them. It sounds so simple and profoundly true but definitely isn’t easy. Can I feel successful in this world if what I have achieved is inner peace? Do I feel wealthy when I am healthy? Can I wrap and give kindness as a gift?

Yesterday I opened the new wall calendar that arrives on my front stoop each year without fail from my aunt. The title of this one is Simplicity.

Sigh. Yes, yes, yes, yes. This holiday, this life is simple if I can allow it to be. I head down for a walk by the river and I see it everywhere I look. In the river. In the trees. In the way the deer run. How the clouds float through the sky.  Simplicity. I think simplicity should be added to the ‘what’s in’ list as the new must have for 2019. We would all surely benefit.

Happy New Year’s Simplicity to you all!

Hi moon,
SARAH