Getting What You Want

Tomorrow, in houses all over the world, thousands of people will wake up to Christmas morning. But what would happen if Christmas didn’t come the way they expected it to.

A Thought Experiment

Imagine waking up tomorrow morning.

Even before you get out of bed, expectation fills your mind.

You think about what the day will hold. You think about presents, about family, and about food. An image of what this day should be like becomes more and more clear as you lie in bed.

Then imagine that you go downstairs. At first, everything seems totally normal.

Except it seems cold, much too cold. You feel a draft coming in from the hall but you think nothing of it.

You groggily walk to the kitchen and make some coffee. You wrap your arms around yourself as you sip warm liquid. But something still doesn’t’ feel right.

You notice a small cloud forming with every breath. And You start to wonder why is it’s so cold.

So you poke your head into the living room and your eyes widen, your pupils dilate, and your head spins. There, under the trees where the gifts should be . . . nothing.

You see muddy boot prints on the ground. You’re dumbfounded. Your are barely able to comprehend what’s happened.

Is this some horrible prank?

You turn and follow the boot prints into the hall. Your eyes tracing the small bits of earth on the front door. There you see it. Shards of broken glass and the source of the draft.

A window is shattered and the door stands slightly ajar. A sense of horror enters your heart, followed quickly by sadness.

The rest of your day is filled with tears, police reports, and a cold empty feeling. You feel violated and torn from the inside. You will never forget this day for as long as you live.

Ok now let that image go. Take a few deep breaths. Feel your body and release those feelings from your heart.

Imagine the images fading and then disappearing completely. Leaving behind a blank canvas.

Act 2

Once again, imagine waking up tomorrow morning.

As soon as you open your eyes, you see a gentle light streaming in from the window. The light falls across you like a blanket, warming your whole body. Just seeing this light fills your heart with gratitude.

You get out of bed and go downstairs to make coffee. Your pour yourself a cup but discover you are out of cream. You shrug your shoulders and head into the living room. You look at your simple tree and smile.

Soon your family joins you. Stockings are unpacked. Complaints are made of fair toy distribution. Breakfast is eaten and more family arrives.

Your uncle that always annoys you, today seems charming. Your kids fight, but the jabs are gentler. You get the worse present from the gift swap, but definitely the funniest. Part of the dinner gets burnt, but there is still plenty of food.

It seems like no matter what goes awry today, you rise above it. The whole day you feel glad and grateful and so connected to everyone you love.

There are gifts but they don’t matter half as much as the smiles, the hugs, and the time spent together.

Ok now let that image go. Take a few deep breaths. Feel your body and release those feelings from your heart.

Imagine the images fading and then disappearing completely. Leaving behind a blank canvas.

Choose Your Adventure

If I were to ask you to pick one of these tomorrows, I have little doubt that most of us would choose the 2nd one. Yet for many of us, a day like the second would be a disappointment. Under most circumstances.

You see our minds like to create a picture of how things should be. And then compare it to how things are. When the pictures don’t match, we suffer. But we don’t have to do this.

We can choose to create a different picture in our minds. Or even better, we can let the picture draw itself.

We can let the imperfections add color and detail. We can let each mistake be a beautiful oops.

The trick is to notice that we’ve drawn a picture and then to let that picture go.

Let the canvas of our day be as blank as possible. And if you notice yourself holding on too tight, you can do the same thing you did with each of the previous experiments.

Let that image go. Take a few deep breaths. Feel your body and release those feelings from your heart.

Imagine the images fading and then disappearing completely. Leaving behind a blank canvas.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow and I wish mindful happiness to each of you in this coming year.