I realized recently that I had still not done any of my Christmas shopping, and was quickly approaching the big day.  This is very unlike me, since I’m usually mostly done by the first week of December.  This realization caused my Christmas spirit to dip.  Considerably.

I therefore did something that I do not usually do – I took a vacation day to go shopping.  After dropping my wife off at work, I picked up my Mom and we headed out for a delicious breakfast at Tony’s Bistro.  After dropping her off at her apartment following our leisurely breakfast, I ventured out into the wild and faced the crowds.

In truth, it wasn’t too bad.  I opted to hit all of the non-mall destinations that I wanted to go to first, and then save that for the end.  After a full morning of running around and visiting my list of stores, I popped over to the mall around 1PM.  While the crowds were definitely much thicker here, it still wasn’t too bad.  Some stores were worse than others, and here is where I realized that my laid-back nature and Reiki practices were beneficial. You could see the stress and annoyance on so many people’s faces as they waited in lines at the cashes.  I did so with a smile on my lips and a song in my heart.

At 3:30, I was back home.  I was out and about for 5-6 hours in total, and came out with about 95% of my shopping done.  It ended up being a very good day overall.  I drove around listening to Christmas music.  I bought lovely gifts for people that I love.  I had a delicious breakfast with my mom.

The evening continued with the same ease.  Isabelle spent the bulk of the evening baking as she had a lunch at work with some colleagues (naturally, she was tasked with bringing dessert.)  So I headed down to the movie room, turned on the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special (followed by A Very Murray Christmas), and wrapped everything I had purchased.

Taking a step back, my initial reaction of panicking because I hadn’t done any shopping and it was December 19th wasn’t required.  I trusted my instincts, let my guides inspire me, and everything worked out delightfully.  By the time I went to bed, my Christmas spirit had rebounded.