Merry Humbug

Okay, I am going to just put in my holiday stress and weary thoughts for a minute. I have been going through the motions this Christmas, trying to get the usual list of holiday stuff done. I have been getting increasingly stressed and wearing myself out with late nights, however. I've had more a "Bah Humbug" attitude than a "Merry Christmas" one this year. Tonight I took the kids to see a Christmas movie at the Imax theater at the zoo called "The Light Before Christmas." In the movie, the Candleman sprinkles "Spirit of Christmas" powder in the kids' hot cocoa before he magically takes them into the story he tells. I thought about that...I need some "Spirit of Christmas" powder, too. And it should be as easy as that, just pausing to enjoy the little things about this time of year that make it magical, instead of just trying to get through them to move on to the next item on my list. As I was scrubbing the bathroom for the last hour and a half, I have been thinking over several things. My life right now has been so crazy that I haven't had a chance to really enjoy any of it. Even the stuff that I plan for enjoyment or for the kids to do something fun ends up with either whines from them or my patience running out (or both.) I have really had the blues lately, and I try to keep myself busy to get over them, but I have decided to do something else. To fill my heart with gratitude is a surefire way to dispel my own pity and discouragement. So I am going to use my blog to do my grateful posts. I know several of my friends and family have wonderful posts about all the blessings in their life. And so for posterity, and my own health, I will remember how very blessed I am.
Carolyn Wright said, "when gratitude fills our hearts, there is no room for unhappiness. Happiness, I decided, does not depend on obtaining all the desires of our hearts. It does not have to wait until we get married or become parents or acquire material goods. Happiness depends in large measure on our ability to feel gratitude for the abundance we already have." --Ensign, March 1994.
So instead of griping about housecleaning, I am going to express how grateful I am to have a now clean, sanitary, shiny bathroom. I am grateful for bleach, because even though it takes a while longer to clean up than other cleaners, it makes everything new again and germ free. I am grateful that I am healthy enough to scrub and reach all those grout lines and corners of the bathtub. And I am grateful for potty trained little boys, for even though there are drips around the toilet, Gavin is doing things for himself and I don't have to change his diapers. And I know I can go out of town and come home to a clean bathroom. There, I feel better already.
And as I came into the living room tonight, I took in the sight of my little Christmas tree all aglow, and had a warm, happy "Spirit of Christmas" feeling enter my heart as I remembered that I love Christmas and it does bring me joy after all.