Peace be with you

Peace. Peace inside of you, with you, filling you with calm and warmth. That's what I hope you feel this holiday season. Not filled with worry or stressed that you haven't gotten the people on your list the thing their heart truly desires....that's not your job, to fulfill other people's dreams. It's so easy, at this time of year, to be so focused on hearing those silent messages of what other people want or need and then to take on the job of doing that, racing around, chasing gifts, worried about giving and getting everything right, as if there's some perfect way for things to be. When, really, it's not the gift that you're giving that matters, but your time, your love, your caring. 
Oh! But that chase is so familiar. I am a recovering on-again, off-again do-aholic. I can feel what other people want or need and then, burdened by that sixth sense, for years, I have gone out and done it!....what a gift it must be to be oblivious, to be clueless, irresponsible, unburdened and deaf to sensing everyone else's needs. What a gift it is to, finally, turn down that volume and focus on me (yes, me -- and yes, focus on YOU) and what really matters.
This year, my goal for for me and for you is to be centered, to stay in tune with you, to share your love, not your wallet, to be aware of what makes YOU joyous at this season, to seek out those moments and pleasures, to slow down, to savor, to be you, to be in the moment, not worried in advance of who and what will happen, but to be at peace, grateful, oh so grateful that we are here, we are alive, to feel love, share love. To be at peace.