How to Be Present During the Holidays

It’s here—that season when you throw sanity out the window and with wild abandon throw yourself full throttle into the holidays. I mean, there are things to do, people to see, and places to go. Not to mention there’s only a certain amount of time to make things happen. Right?

For the most part, we’re really good at our to-do lists. We get the coveted gifts for our family, hopefully at the prices we want to pay. We plan holiday gatherings and assign tasks to our guests. Plus, we ferociously clean and shop and wrap and eat. Then, if we’re honest, we often complain either inwardly or outwardly about how we try to make the season merry and bright for the ones we love. When that’s the case, we look a lot less like Santa and a lot more like the Grinch.

Maybe you gave up aiming for the “perfect” holiday, but you’re still stressed about all you want to pack into the month. Even if you’ve opted for simpler moments of peace and quiet, you may find yourself wrestling with everybody else’s expectations.

The holiday season is full of opportunities for us to really be there for our friends, family, and even strangers.

It may be tempting to rush through it all and complete our to-do list with as little financial and emotional damage as possible. However, this season has the unique potential to create a new mindshift going forward.

A couple of years ago, a holiday to-do list went viral, probably for a lot of reasons. But perhaps the most important reason is that in spite of how “connected” we say we are, people are longing for the presence of people in their lives. The list is a great reminder of ways we can be present during the holidays and in the lives of others.

Keeping this list in mind can set the tone for how you give what you give during the holidays and beyond. It’s kind of amazing that the most meaningful gift we can give doesn’t require us to spend money. But in our minds, it may be the most costly present—because we can’t be completely present with someone while focusing on something else at the same time. Perhaps the best present is to be present during the holidays. Time is the one thing that once you spend it, you can’t get it back.

Dr. Suess said, “Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” There will always be things to buy, but the moments when we give our best selves to people are what make lasting memories.

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