Throughout the holiday season, I see and feel how we are stretched in many directions; asked to be in more than one place at a time, looked upon to be the perfect family or the perfect parent or the perfect spouse in a time filled with joy but also stress. I think the holidays are a time when we try to be all things to all people, and sometimes in the midst of it all, we forget to be there for ourselves.
It's exhausting thinking of putting up a front of happiness and trying to maintain that for any length of time. And just as I think it's unrealistic to try to convince others that our lives are perfect and delightful, the false perception of perfection also rings hollow and fake to those who look below the surface. In the era of Facebook posts and Instagram pictures of smiling faces and delightful vacations, it becomes clear that the truth is much more compelling. Being moved by the reality of someone's situation, the difficulties that they face, and the pain that they are willing to share, rather than the petty niceties of a family smiling on the outside and breaking apart at their core. I think if we remember that all of us have something that we are grateful for, and something that we are struggling with, and if we are just as willing to embrace someone for sharing the latter as the former, we allow ourselves to connect in a way that bonds us and brings us closer.
It's in allowing others to see our true fears, and in allowing others to help guide and support us along the way, that we forge ahead through difficult times; it's also in the sharing of our delight and joy that we allow others to revel with us. If we remember that all of this is true, then perhaps we can allow our friendships to deepen, allow ourselves to be vulnerable, and bring forward true relationships.
Lesson learned.
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