How to turn the holidays into a truly fulfilling and enjoyable season!
Whatever holiday you celebrate this season, this time of year sparks excitement from young to old with the promise of joy, tasty food, generosity, quality time with loved ones, meaningful conversations, and laughter. But sometimes the most wonderful time of the year may not feel so wonderful after all.
Too often we get swept away in the frantic chaos of gift shopping, awkward family gatherings and office parties, or the pressure of cooking dinner for (or simply being around) a large group of people at once. We end up spending our holidays doing things that don’t bring us true happiness, resulting in loneliness, frustration, and sadness during what is supposed to be the happiest time of the year.
But what if our happiness, connectedness, and wholeheartedness could increase this holiday season based on a simple formula? What if the typical holiday frustrations just didn’t exist?
The secret formula lies in living in spiritual-material balance.
Something Spiritual + Something Material = Fulfilling and Enjoyable Holiday
It took me over a decade to discover how we can use this balance in our day-to-day lives, and have found that most of us are living in spiritual-material conflict. So how can you find balance and transform it into a holiday of spiritual-material abundance? And more importantly, how can you use this information to have a holiday season you enjoy?
The holidays are filled with sacred symbols and themes, such as light, hope, and love, so let’s use the above formula to bring yourself and others the joy of light.
Light + Gathering with Loved Ones = Connection, Belonging, Meaning
Reflecting on the theme of light together with friends and family can imbue the occasion with profound meaning, turning a dreary gathering into an experience of emotional connection and spiritual fulfillment.
To celebrate the joy of light, here are some ideas that will bring you a greater sense of connection, belonging, and meaning:
- Blessing the world: During a holiday meal, each person can light a candle, go around the table and share their hopes and wishes for increasing happiness, hope, and light in the world.
- Blessing each other: When gathering with friends and family, each person can offer a lit candle and a blessing to someone else in the room, going around until everyone has received a blessing from someone.
- Creating your own light: Purchase materials to create your own candles, or paint on glass that will serve as candleholders. Then light the candles and each person can voice a personal wish.
- Many nights, many blessings: If you are celebrating Hanukkah, or Kwanza, where you light candles over a period of a few days, then pick a topic for each evening and express a wish or offer a blessing each evening for each topic. You can pick topics that are personal and concern you and the people you are gathering with, or universal topics, sending light and love across the globe.
You can find inner fulfillment without having to give up life’s material comforts. Using this Spiritual-Material Formula, you can invest greater meaning, connection, and happiness into the traditional activities of the holidays.
Play with it and have fun!
Come up with your own creative ways to imbue this season with your unique spirit. However you choose to celebrate, may you find joy, fulfillment, and lasting peace.
Blessings for a fulfilling and gratifying holiday,
Anna
P.S. Here’s a link to my TEDx talk where I give examples of how to balance spiritual fulfillment with material enjoyment: You Can Eat Your Cake and have Enlightenment Too.
