Lifestyle: “Only one month until Christmas….”

Self-tutoring about anticipation: the tutor reflects….

When I was a kid, looking forward to Christmas brought endless pleasure from about this time of year. The holiday lights, the store displays, colouring Christmas scenes, the specials on TV…it was wonderful.

Married with two teenagers, I’ve seen the other side of Christmas…how one can be overtaken, and quite suddenly. My wife and I brainstorm about Christmas gifts in late summer, to take the edge off December.

Yet, there must be a “sweet spot”, when Christmas – and events in general – happen without anticipation, and alike without hurry. That would be life’s “perfect pace,” would it not?

Most adults find they’re in a hurry much of the time, yet kids often find life lacks the excitement they wish, so they look forward to special events. I heard a lady , maybe age 30, once reminisce that, at age 14, she had her best summer ever. Had she, at age 14, reached “perfect pace”, so that life just fell into place every day that summer?

People take on more as they grow up and can perceive the advantage of accomplishment. They imagine a “perfect Christmas”, a “perfect vacation”, or what have you. Yet perhaps that lady, back as a girl of 14, managed a near-perfect summer, just by living her life. I’ve often wondered how many others enjoy a similar time in life, and how they feel as it slips from them.

My first recollection of “it’s x months till Christmas” was an absurd joke: it was said to me on a hot afternoon, July 25, in a retail parking lot. I laughed out loud. None of us had kids then, so we wouldn’t think about Christmas until December. The receipt just happened to say July 25, so my friend made that hilarious connection.

Now, with one month until Christmas, some can’t wait, while others might feel overtaken. Some may not even notice: perhaps they are the ones at “perfect pace”, who will think of Christmas in good time:)