Hoopla and Hootenanny

Here we are, Christmas Eve, amidst the burgeoning hoopla and hootenanny we call the holidays. Right smack dab in the middle of it. Chaos. Everyone is rushing around, shopping, stressing out, overeating ("indulging" because, well it's the holidays, and my diet starts with my new year's resolution), singing, hoarding, worrying, planning, overspending, traveling, packing, doing 9,000 activities ... (What's with the kid's face in the picture by the way? Must be Black Peter...)

I prefer to approach my holidays like a hunting tiger. Slow, steady, tactful, stealthy, decisive. Make a decision and execute. I did all my holiday shopping in 4 hours in three stores, and came in under budget. How about them apples?! Granted, I spent about an hour planning - but at least that was at the comfort and focus of my desk, not in the middle of Walmart as an angry mom of 4 is pushing her cart into my heels trying to get through to the display of Hannah Montana toys.

Slow things down and do it the right way, and efficiently. Imagine, plan, finalize, and then execute.

In my opinion, time is better spent this way. Not just during the holidays, but in general. Worrying is so much time wasted. It takes up a lot of energy that could be spent producing a solution. "It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?" - Henry David Thoreau

Our new course of action: Simple and easy. Stress less. Do more. The concept is like a gadget As Seen on TV! making life easier, tasks so much quicker, and you think, I can't believe I lived without this before and I can't imagine a future without it. (This is how I feel about ShamWOW). The key is foresight and allotting yourself enough time to plan. Your best work cannot be done on short notice - but better work can be done if you take the time to build a plan of action, no matter where you are in the process.

This isn't to say that I don't fly by the seat of my pants for most of my days. I am a big proponent of spontaneity. It's one of the gifts of life and almost always allows for more humor. That's why you get the jobs you need to do out of the way so that free time can be spent frolicking and fumbling about. And you can only really 100% enjoy this if you don't have any impending worries on your mind. So it is best to get things that need to be done out of the way as soon as possible and with as little effort as is needed.

Now, as I kick back and eat fudge and be merry, I am saddened by the fact that others are out there hustling around buying mediocre gifts (...and the when-all-else-fails-and-I'm-too-burned-out-to-care-anymore gift cards) when they could have just followed these simple steps I've outlined above. IPFE. Imagine, plan, finalize, execute.

After all, dreams and ideas are meaningless until you pursue them. And if you have no time to dream, that makes for a very joyless life.