Welcome to Under 2, an email series delivering short insights to empower your money life – in 2 minutes or less.
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We’re officially in the home stretch to Christmas. And that can mean a lot of, well, everything! A lot of time, energy, emotions, and money will be poured into travel, cleaning, baking, cooking, wrapping, grocery shopping, last minute gift shopping, and entertaining in the next week or so.
Are you ready?
Well, my friend, I’m calling it. Ready or not, I’m done with the stress. It’s time to shift gears from to-do lists and expectations and step into focus, enjoyment, and living in the moment.
We’ll all still have errands and chores to tackle; those things never go away entirely. But it is important to step back and set your boundaries for the busy week(s) ahead.
What is important to put more time and energy into? What do you want to put more time and energy into? And what will you not put any more time and energy into for the coming holidays?
When family relationships start to strain or your energy flags, when will you politely extract yourself?
When last minute impulses to buy another round of stocking stuffers and gifts hit, where will you place your limit? What will you do to ensure you stick to those limits – or avoid more spending altogether?
Boundaries are about preplanning what your actions will be if and when certain circumstances come to pass (not about what expectations you will hold for other people, by the way).
Some of these circumstances we can easily predict simply by evaluating our years of past experience. Some we can’t easily predict (like my beloved dishwasher pooping out yesterday), which means we need to adopt an overarching mindset of calm to ride the coming waves.
I remember at our wedding someone told me to be sure and pause throughout the day, to take some mental snapshots, notice the people and small pleasures surrounding us, and take those moments to drink it in, to notice, and to savor.
Because the big lead up to special occasions can leave us with whiplash when they suddenly pass and it’s all over.
So for the next couple of weeks through Christmas and New Year’s, be sure to pause, to notice the good, to savor the fun, to find the best in those moments and enjoy them.
Otherwise, what was all the preparation and spending for?
Where is it, this present? It has melted in our grasp, fled ere we could touch it, gone in the instant of becoming.
William James in The Principles of Psychology
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Under 2, an email series designed to share quick bites of wisdom to empower your financial journey (while keeping it short). Be sure to sign-up below to get these messages in your inbox.
All for now,
Lindsey