It is December 2022. The end of the year. The time of year filled with everything from excitement to worry, from a heavy sigh of relief to anxiety over what is to come, from regret and “shoulds” to vision and love! The magic of this time of year is that it is all of this and then some. If we sit in the disempowering feelings of regret, worry, anxiousness or “shoulds”, we miss the actual magic of this time of year.
I don’t mean magic, such as Santa showing up or finding the perfect gift, or getting just what you wanted. I am talking magic of the season, magic of ending a year and beginning a year, just pure magic. This season is filled with love, kindness, generosity, fun, compassion and gratitude if we allow. If we resist the magic, we will be filled with worry, anxiety, apathy, frustration and guilt.
How do we go about allowing the love when we have societal norms and ideal that we must give. To give gifts we may not be able to afford or that others really won’t appreciate. To give time when we feel strapped for time as it is. To give our love when we are feeling sadness, and hurt. We succumb to pressures even when we really do not want to, really do not feel like it. The pressure we place on ourselves to live up to these societal ideals, all in an effort to get some type of external validation; again something that we all have experienced throughout our lives.
Giving is a beautiful act and one that hopefully comes from a place of love, connection, kindness, and pureness. Not an act that has to be done. Receiving is also a beautiful act. Many of us are not good at receiving. Think of when you are paid a compliment, most of us immediately say something negative about the compliment. We don’t receive in the same way that we give. And yet, the magic is that we do both, and we do both fully, with love, connection, kindness and purity. Too often, we give so much that we have nothing left. Even though we could be receiving as well, we tend not to.
So, many of us then feel depleted this time of year. The time of year when we could be caught up in the magic, we are caught up in the hustle, and grind of the time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I do know that there are many of us out there who have to get a lot done for a lot of people and that can deplete. Have we allowed anyone who offered to help, to help us? Have we reached out for help? You may recall, 3 years ago I broke my wrist 2 weeks before Christmas and Hanukkah. I could not even open cat food cans for about a week let alone wrap all of the gifts that I had. I quickly realized I needed help and allowed it. People food shopped for me, wrapped my gifts, walked around my house and loosened every jar and can I could think of needing. I had people drop off food, and others just check on me. I received it all and allowed it all and experienced the magic of that holiday season, of that end of one year and beginning of another.
The magic of this time of year is in allowing. It is in the connection that allowing gives us. I knew I could not get to a few places that I needed gift cards for and I also knew that one of my besties daughters’ may be able to help me out. I reached out and asked if she could pick them up for me and she did. I then went to my besties house to pick up my merchandise, allowing for a connection with her and her hubby that I may not have had at this time. My allowing to be helped allowed for a quick visit with people I love.
The magic of allowing. The magic of love. The magic of connection. The magic of kindness. The magic of vision and creativity. The magic of pureness. All of this magic is tied up in the end of the year and the promise of a new year. Allow for all the magic. Allow.