December First Homework

Our actions speak louder than our words, but what about what we don’t do? How does what we don’t do define who we are? Parker J. Palmer asks you to complete the sentence: I would never _______. Now of course, his intention was to bring some insight as to our personal compass, what makes us perform the way we do.

In the spirit of the Holiday Season, let’s take a lighter look at who we are over the next few, bustling with busy-ness days ahead.

There are some easy things we know about ourselves: I would never buy my partner a new vacuum cleaner as a gift, I would never steal something from Chapters, I would never butt into line at the movie theatre. But what about the more difficult things that gnaw at us year after year during the holidays.

There’s often the relative (because only a relative would dare do this, a friend would never be invited back) who sits at the table and never gets up to help; the family members that don’t volunteer to bring along a contribution to the meal, or the person who more than drinks their fair share of a bottle. What do we do about them, or rather what don’t we do about them?

There is a fine line between being gracious and joyful in the Christmas spirit and being a doormat (even if it is a festive doormat!)

What won’t you do this holiday season to set a new tradition in place?

-          Count your pennies or spend more

-          Eat more shortbread or fill your plate with vegetables

-          Wrap gifts in recycled materials or go full out glitz

-          Order your Christmas feast or make all the family favourites

-          Drink punch or eggnog and fill-in-the-blank

-          Attend every party that comes along or watch the fireplace channel

Give your wont’s some thought. Then when you check in with yourself on January 1^st, you can smile at the new history you have created and know that you will never _______ again.