<span style="font-size: 20px;"><a href="https://50plus-today.com/fyi50plus/50-plus-today-team-senior-lifestyle-online-magazine/">by Marlene Caraballo</a></span> <h2>Embracing imperfect holidays</h2> <span style="font-size: 20px;">The holiday season is here and along with the excitement comes anxiety, stress and the self-inflicted pressure to make everything <em>perfect</em>.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">We run around like maniacs trying to orchestrate the perfect holiday. We drive ourselves crazy with preparations –searching for the <em>perfect</em> gifts, hunting for the .<em>perfect</em> decorations, and googling the <em>perfect</em> holiday recipes</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">We want our home to be sparkling clean for holiday guests and gatherings. We stress about who is going to whose house, who will cook, when to bake, what to wear – all the way down to the tiniest logistics like making sure we’ve gotten our gray roots covered in time for the celebrations.</span> <h2><span style="font-size: 20px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159285849X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=159285849X&linkCode=as2&tag=50plustoday-20&linkId=3a712b4df3022960a6d149397d8d8779" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are</a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=50plustoday-20&l=am2&o=1&a=159285849X" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></span></h2> <span style="font-size: 20px;">Those of us who are parents also go nuts trying to make our adult “kids” feel like they are six years old again! Which is ridiculous, but we just can’t help ourselves! We envision them amazed and delighted at all the festive and magical traditions we’ve prepared that they enjoyed so much when they were little.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">But let’s face it, at this point in life – making magic get more complicated.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">Many of our grown kids have partners or spouses, which come along with in-law families to share their holidays with. Compromises start to happen and frequently we don’t end up having all of our special loved ones where we’d like them (in <em>our</em> dining room) for our imaginary <em>perfect</em> holiday.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">Gift giving is also a more difficult than it was years ago. Our lives are so hurried and busy that figuring out that <em>perfect</em> <a href="https://50plus-today.com/category/gift-guides-50-plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gift</a> for each of the people on our list becomes an exhausting, head-scratching, maybe even hair-pulling, exercise.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">Then there is the puzzle of figuring out the most perfect holiday meal ever. After the considerations of who is gluten-free or vegan or on a special diet or will have already stuffed themselves at someone else’s house on the way here…what is left is nothing but <em>a worry casserole</em>.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">It’s no wonder we feel <a href="https://50plus-today.com/holiday-fatigue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frazzled.</a> We won’t stop unless everything is perfect. The bottom line is that we think everyone will be happy if everything is perfect.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">But it’s not true. </span> <h2><span style="font-size: 20px;">Perfect doesn’t equal happy.</span></h2> <span style="font-size: 20px;">Happy is a warm hug given to dear friend, a welcoming or heartfelt toast (even if it’s in a paper cup), reminiscing about a loved one lost during the year, tears from a funny story shared or difficult circumstance we’ve endured since the last holiday. Happy is that holiday feeling of gratitude, good will and well-wishes for those we love, near or far.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">Take a moment to catch your breath. Let’s embrace the imperfection of it all with open hearts. Enjoy the memories being created in the moment, regardless of whether someone is missing, we never found the perfect gift, the house is dusty, and the roast is burnt.</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">This is the season to mindfully embrace holidays that are gloriously imperfect and still superbly perfect.</span> <h2>About the author</h2> <span style="font-size: 20px;"><em><img class="wp-image-3786 alignleft" src="https://50plus-today.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/marlene-400x400-300x300.jpg" alt="marlene carabello, cheers2chapter2" width="121" height="121" />Marlene Caraballo is an eternal optimist,designer by day, and writer by night. She is Mom to three sons, and pet parent to Nutley. Resides in Orange County, NY. VisitBlogs about life after 50 at <a href="https://cheers2chapter2.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cheers2chapter2.com/</a></em></span> <iframe style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=50plustoday-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=159285849X&asins=159285849X&linkId=8cbf781df974facc0139cdf7267346a3&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe> originally posted 11.17.2018 updated 12.2.2022
