Kimberly decides the holiday season is an opportunity to celebrate her heart. She chooses to boost her joy by contributing to the joy of others.
How do you care for your heart during the holidays?
If we imagine our heart as a big red balloon, what is it doing right now?
Does it have enough air?
When our hearts lack air they can barely lift themselves off the ground. They drag across the floor, deflated and depressed. Hearts struggling for air fumble in irregular loops, drooping across the landscape unable to support their weight.
Is it floating away?
Without a string to keep a heart tethered to vision and values, it floats away without direction. A displaced heart limps across dry land with no fuel source in case of emergency.
Feel like it’s fully inflated and bouncy?
We count on a healthy heart to harmonize the rhythm of our lives. A full heart instinctively prioritizes holiday fun, creates memories and serves others.
Held by a string in strong hands?
Holding our hearts from a reservoir of inner strength ensures they are protected from holiday ups and downs. With string in hand, we invite experiences and relationships which extend three key truths: peace, love and joy.
A genuine heart-leading season requires commitment and perseverance. (Read more about staying sane for the holidays here.)
These three keys help us maintain our promises to:
Listen to the heart.
Knowing the heart’s preset-button is naturally quiet and harmonious, pay attention when it transmits distress signals such as racing or quickening of breath. If in distress mode, stop and walk away from the stimulus causing anxiety and stress. Pump yourself up with life-giving air (literally), or request Divine Energy. Touch your heart with your hand held over it and offer a mantra such as: “I love you, dear heart. Thank you for taking care of me,” becomes an offering to heal its current state.
At the start of the day Kimberly laid her hand on her heart. She visualized the people in her life who make her heart sing. She sent herself and her beloveds a gratitude blessing and wished them all well.
Create boundaries from compassion and courage. Interacting with others involves compassion and courage. There are times of tension and discomfort. To offer feedback to others is challenging – especially since emotions steer our words. However, if we don’t speak up when a line has been crossed, we get itchy, resentful and frustrated. Then it festers. We start to blame the other for our problem. Our ego enters center stage and blows the scenario completely out of proportion.
Deeply-felt, genuine conversations express our fundamental desire to create loving spaces to share the fullness of our hearts. When we allow our heart to lead, we express ourselves from a more authentic and clear place. Our intention of Peace Before Harm shines past the shadows of doubt and pain.
Kimberly’s heart carried anger when she thought about her brother Adam’s outbursts at the holidays. His behavior put a strain on family festivities. This year Kimberly met with Adam before the gatherings and talked about peace. Adam expressed hurt from past holidays and believed he was treated differently from his other siblings. They concluded their relationship mattered more than “being right.”
Kimberly gave Adam genuine assurances that she and her family loved him. Adam agreed to work on his temperament, and Kimberly agreed to open her heart to allow for differences.
Partner with the Divine.
See your heart rising high into the air, effortlessly guided by an unknown and powerful source. You are eagerly drawn to this source of light and all-loving energy. In this place above the clouds you sense your heart is peaceful and free. It’s not limited or dense in any way. It is now easy to be thankful for your life and relationships. Before you descend to the ground, ask your heart and the Divine to stay ahead of the dread and fear surrounding you.
At the end of the day, Kimberly journeys upward. She humbly asks the Divine to awaken her heart and the hearts of all beings. She images the Divine filling her with peace, love and joy. Kimberly falls into a restful sleep. She now recognizes that she is a Light helping other Lights – together they make their way home.