Ring Out 2020! Ring in 2021!

Ring out 2020 with an Amazing week of Christmas

Everyone I speak with is anxious to ring out 2020 on New Year’s Eve. One friend told me he was going to stay up until midnight to make sure 2020 left.

As we wait for New Year’s Eve to kick 2020 out the door, I encourage you to take a deep breath and make this week of Christmas a memorable one.

Here are some ideas you can use to bring peace, calm and cheer to your life and make this week of Christmas one you will remember for years to come in spite of the discouraging times of 2020. 

Tips to Make the Season Brighter

• Fill your house with the holiday fragrance of cloves, orange peel and cinnamon sticks simmering on the kitchen stove.
• Let go of a problem you can’t solve and enjoy the holiday atmosphere of the week.
• Take a shut-in a scrumptious Christmas dinner.
• Give an anonymous gift of money to someone who has been laid off.
• Try one new recipe.
• Organize a neighborhood progressive holiday dinner. Have appetizers at one home, the main course at another and dessert at a third.
• Give a big hug to a family member who looks really stress out. 
• Ask yourself before going to bed every night this week, “Whose life did I make brighter today?”
• Spend the week reading Christmas customs in other countries for bedtime stories and learn to say Merry Christmas in different languages.
• Be extra nice to the postal workers or clerks…they have worked long shifts to get your packages and Christmas cards to your loved ones.

Music for the Holidays

Since live performances are not being held, watch the New York City Ballet perform Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ofysvpgv7o

This YouTube link takes you to a performance from April 12, 2020 of Handel’s Messiah with the Handel-size choir and orchestral instruments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFjQ77ol2DI

No Need for Expensive Gifts

Don’t despair if you are short of cash. Be creative. Looking back, you will discover that the Christmases when you had the least money were the ones that left you with the beset memories. Turn to gifts of yourself. Gifts of Time. Gifts of Love.

The more expensive the gift, the more the kids will want to play with the box.

Two More Tips

1. Don’t give your spouse or partner a bathroom scale.
2. Refuse to get on the scale until January 5.

Goodbye 2020!