38 sleeps and counting down

According to my local supermarket, there are 38 more sleeps until Christmas. If you want to scare people, tell them that.

Some people have a talent for planning and catering and organising. They’re the ones who finished their Christmas shopping last month, who have planned their holidays and had their leave approved, have their work commitments under control and are looking forward to cruising through to Christmas. The rest of us struggle, often because we don’t start thinking about the holidays until the last minute.  As I said, there are 38 sleeps to go. If you start thinking about the holidays now, this end-of-year can be different.

Here are 5 ways to get more enjoyment from the countdown:

1    Plan. There are 38 sleeps left until Christmas, a few more until New Year. What do you need to do before then? What do you want to do? What can wait until next year? What will be important 5 years from now? Make a list. Check it twice (just kidding).
2    Don’t overcommit. That list you just made? Cut it in half. Most of us underestimate the time it will take get things done. Don’t set yourself up for Herculean feats between now and Christmas. Be reasonable with yourself. Allow time for the spontaneous and unexpected!
3    What do YOU want? It’s easy to get caught up in keeping everyone else happy – remember it’s perfectly okay for you to say ‘thank you but no’ if you don’t want to do something. Do some things just because you want to do them –  because they make YOU happy.
4    Play more. Have fun. Remember playtime at school? We had morning play and afternoon play. And there was play lunch. And surprises. And magic. All those great things that we forget to do as responsible adults. Have fun and play more during the next six weeks – this is the best chance that grown ups get to play all year!
5    Enjoy. Slow down. Pay attention to the present moment. This is the only Christmas 2008 you will ever experience. The only time you will get to shout Happy New Year as the first of January 2009 begins.  Make sure you’re there, wherever you are.

the gift of a beard

If you’ve ever needed a good reason to have a beard (and a really easy way to get one quickly), here it is:  the happy, creative people at atto will donate $1 to Kiva for everyone who sends a photo of their real self wearing a fake beard (easily created using their Build a Beard Workshop).  Good clean, hairy fun, and for a great cause – what more could you ask for?  You can have that warm and fuzzy ‘I’ve done something worthwhile’  feeling with a warm and fuzzy face……. (and there’s a great range of beards to choose from!)

Here is my bearded self:

The Shackleton beard