Not every moment is perfect. Not every moment is ideal. Not everything turns out as we thought it would. So … we accept this imperfect moment as being perfect enough. We accept ourselves as being simply … enough. We accept those around us as being enough.

If you’ve read The Abundant Mama blog over the last two years, you’d know that I tend to start out every week with an intention. Creating them and sticking to them is one of the foundations of The Abundant Mama Project, too.

But sometimes setting bigger-than-life intentions can become more of a should than a desire.

A desire is something that feels good.

A should is something that feels more like a chore.

Part of my quest this month is to experience a more abundant holiday season — a season that is full of spirit and magic and meaning.

And a love for meaningful over quantity.

This also means I have very high expectations of what this season should feel like. If anything that’s the hardest part — when we are desperately trying to tap into that magical feeling that we had as children.

And I worry if I’ll be able to create that same magic for my daughters.

Perhaps, though, it’s not really about me at all. The spirit is already in them. In fact, they are the spirit of Christmas. Their joy in believing is the magic.

In other words, everything is already just as it needs to be.

They are just guiding us along.

May our eyes remain open to that wonder while it lasts.

Here are 5 Words for an Abundant Holiday Season:

1. GIVING. Much like the whole 80-20 rule of marketing, we can spend the majority of our time thinking of others this season. Other children who don’t have a joyful family to hug and hold them tight. And other people who won’t have a family meal to gather around on Christmas Day. Give the gift of time to someone who values it. Give a gift of a note of appreciation. Give a dish of cookies.

2. SIMPLE. It can be really easy to get caught up in making this season complicated. Highly involved recipes, crafts and activities. But, a simple night of driving around and watching the lights twinkle is really about as simple as it needs to get and we often forget that. Get back to basics and find beauty in just being enough as you are right now.

3. SLOW. Lighting candles. Sitting by fires. Making a good batch of cookies. This is the word that carries a family through the stress of the holidays. This is the word we have to keep at the forefront of everything we do. The point is to not rush through any of it. Watch the snow fall. Watch the water boil. Watch the child fall asleep in her sweet pajamas.

4. RELISH. Relish how the kids light up at the gift of the morning’s arrival. Relish at how the room smells after baking that bread. Relish at the sounds of the music pouring out of the speakers. Relish the feeling of making someone happy with a gift that really means something to them.

5. JOY. Isn’t this the point? To feel joy. This doesn’t mean with gifts because the real gifts aren’t under the tree. But to feel joy by giving and relishing. To feel joy by living a simple, slow life. No matter what happens if a home has joy it has everything to a child. Forget the gifts, give me joy. (tweet this)

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