The Holidays (capital “H”) be upon us!
I don’t know you, but I tend to get really stressed during this time.

This year, I am turning down the stress dial… by a lot.

Instead of “Happy Holidays”, I think of it as “Happy Moments”.

One of the beautiful side-effects of mindfulness practice is that we begin to have these spontaneous moments of “waking up”. You are going about your business and all of a sudden you step back from “normal”, look around you, and take in the scene.

It’s in these moments when we usually find happiness. That tiny sweet feeling of “things are rather wonderful”. I’ll call them “Tiny Moments of Wonder”.

Tiny Moments of Wonder

We think we will find happiness in Big Awesome Events, where everything just goes “perfectly”.

You can probably guess what the problem is with that assumption: nothing is ever perfect.

And it can sometimes be so much easier to find happiness in the small and ordinary.

During these days of ritual and merriment, you can try to find Tiny Moments of Wonder.

• Maybe you are sitting across from someone and you suddenly take a minute to feel just how much you care about them.

• Or maybe you taste something especially delicious and you take a minute to appreciate how much care went into making it.

• Or perhaps you are spending the holidays on your own, like I was 2 years ago, and you can take a breath and remember how you are caring for yourself.

In fact, just by reading these words, we are planting seeds, inviting these Tiny Moments of Wonder to come into our lives.

I am wishing you moments like this. Quiet, peaceful, gentle moments of wonder and happiness.

Happy Holidays and I’ll see you in the new year.

Note:  What what? You think the title of this post is a reference to the song “Moments of Happiness” from “Cats”? I never thought of such a thing! ;)

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