Expectations-Don't Let Them Ruin the Holidays!

​When I was little my mom would hand over to my brother and sister and me the Sears Wishbook, this huge catalog with just about every toy imaginable in it, and she'd have us circle everything we wanted for Christmas and put our names next to it. When we were done she said she would send the information off to Santa for us so he'd have a list of presents for us.

I always dreamed of waking up on Christmas morning and finding everything on my list under the tree...but that never happened. And I wondered why. Was I bad? Had I done something naughty and Santa didn't think I deserved more? NO! The truth was my mom was a single parent doing the best that she could to take care of us and make sure we had presents under the tree.

This is just an example of how the holiday season can lead to disappointments. It's not that I didn't have wonderful Christmas's as a kid...it's just that I had expectations that one day I'd be "good enough" to get everything on my list. Those expectations were the problem! I was setting myself up for disappointment year after year.

One of my beloved friends shared a profound quote with me:

How many of us do this to ourselves over the holidays?

• We expect people to behave in certain ways.
• We expect things to be done in specific ways.
• We expect to feel certain emotions.
• We expect our loved ones to know what the perfect gift for us will be.

The problem with expectations is that it's like we are saying we know more than God about what's best for us. But do we...?

It's funny because all of my favorite childhood Christmas memories are about baking cookies, or wrapping presents, or watching TV specials together as a family, or decorating the tree. Out of all my most cherished memories, maybe one involves a toy I received off my list...which just goes to show you that God always makes sure we get exactly what we need most, even if it is completely different than we may have imagined.

So this holiday season I implore you to let go of your expectations and replace them with...

I do hope that you follow the suggestions in the video every day for the rest of the year.  And share the miracles that you experience with all of us here in the comments. I can't wait to hear from you...

With love & light,
Keli

PS- My 3 Steps to Mastering Meditation Course will help and you can get it free when you sign up for my Subscribers Hub.