Sounds like anxiety and depression... go figure ;p
We have been repeteing the same message to the kids for the past nine years, christmas is about the birth of the Christian savior. It is about God, our father, letting his son come to earth to teach us how to be good human being and to explain god to us. So there is a lot less of the commercialism. It is the commercialism that affects my daughter and her birthday on dec 23 that wears me out.
So gabs,
what is your to-do-list? lets take it one thing at a time and the essentials will be done...
that reminds me of a story!!!
A professor was at the point of the year where students were so stressed and upset with course loads and with the season's expectations that he came into class with a big glass jar a sack of stones, another of pebbles, some sand and his usual cup of coffee.
Ok class I have a quick puzzle for you this morning to start the class. How am I going to get all three of these sacs into this jar?
Just by looking at the stones, pebles, and sand in their bags on the desk it was easy to see that not all three would fit into the jar ...
Watch. If I pour all the big stones in first there is still a bit o space at the top Right? so now by pouring a few pebbles at a time and mixing them with the stones, the pebbles fill in the small spaces between the stones. Finally the fine sand can be poured in and equally mixed by swirling the jar and tipping it back and forth.
So now the jar was filled to the very top... This is very similar to what you need to do with your lives students. You place your biggest and most important priorites first into the time and place in your life. Things like school, family, work,... then you find time for the important things like holidays and projects then the rest can slide in the remaining spaces. If we plan all the little things first it would have been like pouring the sand into the jar first. The other items would not have fit or it would have taken so much effort to knock the rest in that we would be left with no time for anything.
Finally, the professor took his cup of coffee, smelled the steam as the students began to understand what the professor was saying, and he poured his coffee into the jar.
And remember, that no matter how full your life is, and how many priorites you are juggling there is always a place to sit back a moment and enjoy a good cup of coffee!