Hunker Down, Batten the Hatches....it's cold outside!
The “hunker down” approach is one way in life to weather a metaphorical life storm or an actual environmental event, unless you are more of a stick your head in the sand kind of person, and you decide to wait it out blissfully unaware of the events around you. You might also be a run and hide person, and while this one approach people take, I would not advise leaving good shelter, unless you are headed to a sunny warm beach where you can drink pina coladas and dream away your troubles.
Reality check. Bad news never gets better in time. A broken car will not become unbroken because you try to forget about it. An unhealthy relationship does not repair itself because you leave it alone for a while, that’s the cure for scab. DO NOT pull those suckers off!!! You just end up with more pain and the same wound in need of healing. Here’s another reality check, a well planted garden will grow weeds if it doesn’t receive the proper care. I sure your mind was blown there! Okay, maybe it wasn’t. But it is something to think about. You can be moving along in life getting it done, taking care of your finances, your house, your spouse, kids, pet…the elements are never ending, but at some point, you’ll notice that first button weed but it doesn’t seem that bad, a few more weeds come and eventually you have to either weed the garden, or till it and burn the whole thing because it’s just a jumbled mess begging to be released from it’s suffering.
There are so many places in life where this is true for me.
When the tides of suffering and weeds start gaining traction I can typically halt the operation and realign myself in the situation. Sometimes it’s as simple as a little weeding, or cleaning the house, other times it’s bigger and heavier than anything I can carry alone and I reach out for help, this could be friends or Pinterest because God knows there are a billion solutions for every life problem there, you might even learn a new life problem you didn’t know you had!
I actually love Christmas Vacation for the opportunity to hunker down and reset. I would love a warm tropical beach too! Who wouldn’t? I enjoy the opportunity to slow down, no rushing. No pushing kids to get into the car, or get their socks on or put their socks back on because they have taken them off three times because while they are small, they know this bullshit game called life is overwhelming and the only weed they have to pull is that pair of socks you not only bought, but have washed and worked hard to keep the dryer from stealing, and then you matched them up and put them in their drawers so there would be no reason at all to be late because they have matching socks, which they love. Only, they love not wearing socks even more. And even more than not wearing socks, they love not being pushed out of their warm house into the car and taken to a school that is not home.
This Christmas we are hunkering down and pulling weeds. We are, so to speak, sheltering in place, a good place, the place where we can nurture the love, play the legos, watch the Christmas movies and reset. Undo the damage that has been done in the last couple weeks since the last holiday as we prepared for the next one and all the final projects while also trying to plan for a fabulous Christmas (which is something I am really conflicted about and will likely dive into that next time).
How does your family reset for the busy holiday season?
