Zen Tip # 3 - Managing Holiday Expectations

Trying to achieve perfection can really hold you back in life. Although that may seem like a strange statement, it really is true. If you are the type of person who is always trying to be perfect, you may have to let that tendency slide around the holidays if you want to relax and enjoy yourself.

Many of us kill ourselves trying to achieve perfection - especially around the holidays. The holidays are supposed to be a time to live, laugh and love and a time to enjoy the festivities, but if you are constantly running around trying to make everything perfect, you will miss out on the most important part of the holidays, which are the people and the fun!

We all have expectations of that perfect holiday, and a lot of this comes from the media and from books. If you are trying to create the perfect Normal Rockwell painting, with everyone gathered around the table smiling and being perfect, you will probably be sadly disappointed because people aren't perfect.

If you want to create the perfect holiday, do yourself a favor and let some things go. You just can't do it all. Our lives are often jam-packed with things to do, whether we work at home or in an office. The days are busy and filled with activities - add the holidays in and you create even more tasks for your to-do list.

If you feel the pressure to create the perfect holiday, give yourself a break and take some shortcuts. You don't have to be perfect, and no one expects you to be. People will still have a good time if you cater the meal or buy cookies from your local bakery.

Don't worry about trying to keep up with the Jones' either, because chances are they are just as stressed out as you. The holidays can be a time of great joy if you can learn to let your hair down per se. One great tip is to let your kids helps you if you are a parent. Your tree doesn't have to look perfect - it just has to make you smile. Homemade ornaments and things that aren't perfect are much more appealing than cookie cutter items that look like they came out of a magazine.

If you are a busy person, and who isn't these days, no one will chide you if you ask them to bring a side dish to the holiday dinner. You can always say you are starting some new traditions. You also don't have to wrap your gifts perfectly, because gift bags and brown paper are more environmentally safe and simpler anyway.

The holidays are really about the people - so don't kill yourself trying to make everything perfect. Hire a cleaning service if you don't have time to clean or cater a meal, no one will even know in the end. Do what you can do, and let the rest go. Try and not idealize the holidays by having a preconceived notion of how people should look and act. Unless someone is doing something completely unacceptable, let it go.

If you are trying to be the perfect parent, or even the perfect son or daughter, give up that notion right now. No one is perfect and we are who we are; each of us is free to choose our own path in life. If you are hoping to create the perfect holiday, you can do so by letting go of all those expectations. In the long run, you will enjoy yourself much more if you release that need to be perfect and let your hair down. In the end, you will be starting a new tradition, the tradition of lovely imperfection.