The planets must have been doing something odd in the last week because I’ve been all over the place with my emotions. Oh, wait, Christmas is almost here. That might be the factor.

As a kid, I saw Christmas as a magical time and not just for the presents. Sure, leafing through the Sears or JCPenney catalog was so much fun, checking out all the toys, making a list for Santa, but there was also a feeling of being connected to something bigger than myself. I didn’t know what that was then. It was just a feeling.

 

Fast forward to being an adult. Christmas used to be so stressful for me as an adult. I would worry about how I would afford the presents I felt obligated to buy. They had to be the perfect gifts, too, because I craved the validation of hearing the recipient get excited or be thankful for something they didn’t know I knew they needed. And the holidays came and went so quickly that I could only remember what happened during them from the photos taken.

A few years ago, I made a change and decided that Christmas Day would be a present to myself. I would no longer leave the house for a Christmas family dinner, and I could lounge around in my pajamas if I wanted, not have to do anything, but there was always something to do, like make food, the cleanup, etc. I couldn’t escape the making of food because I wanted to eat a Christmas feast!

This year, I made all the food we need for Christmas today, on Christmas Eve, so that tomorrow I can truly do whatever my heart wants. Yippie! Now that’s a present to myself!

 

All too often, we think only of others at Christmas, and rightfully so, since it’s a holiday of giving, sharing love, and kindness. But are we slowing down a little bit to think about what we truly want for Christmas?

I thought about it, and even though material things are nice to have and make life easier, prettier, or fulfill something I’m lacking, I actually pondered that what I really want is to be more confident and have more faith in myself. That’s what I really want for Christmas.

So, what do you really want? Is that trinket or smelly bottle going to give you lasting happiness?  Will you remember the feeling you had when you opened the present long after it’s been used, part of your life stuff?

Think about what will make you happy. I don’t know why we don’t think more about that, but we really need to do it.

Taking time to do something that brings us joy makes a lasting impression on our soul, the very life force of who we are.  And every single time we choose to do something that makes us happy, those moments add up to one incredible life – and that, my friends, is what life and Christmas are all about.

 

Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, but it can also celebrate the birth of us doing something new and different to live a beautiful life. The choices laid out in front of us are only ours to make. We don’t have to listen to convention, those close to us, or what’s hot in the world today. What others want for us isn’t what’s in our hearts and minds, and they can’t possibly know what we love unless we make up our minds to show them through our actions.

It’s up to us to make each moment exactly the way we want it to be so we feel happy. Give yourself the gift of forgiveness, too, because I have a feeling that too many of us are holding onto past pain and blaming ourselves for things that happened to us.

Please take a deep breath, let it go, and make a promise to yourself that from this day forward, each thought will be approved by the current version of you, not the scared, fearful, or sad person you were in the past. Your new life starts now.

Merry Christmas! I hope you have an incredible holiday. You deserve it!

To what we want,

Francesca

 

 

 

 

Written by a human for humans.

© 2025 FrancescaME | All rights reserved.

NO PERMISSION FOR AI TRAINING: Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.