I went to a Holiday Market here in my home state – my daughter and I go every year now, kind of our little holiday kick off tradition. I LOVE spending time with her.  This last year it was only 2 days after Halloween.  That was awful early to me, but I am a crazy holiday lady, right?

We took down all the outside Halloween decorations on November 1st and just tossed things that needed to go in totes into the house.  On November 2nd we went to the Colorado Country Christmas Show.  Found some nice things and had our crepe for lunch – yum… We came home and hid the things we bought as gifts and realized that is why we go. 

Now on the 3rd – I was working on putting Halloween decorations in the totes and looked around my house at my Fall decorations – these include Thanksgiving.  I started wondering why I still had so much.  It was time to look at things again and decide – do you LOVE it? do you LIKE it? or is it just OK?  I decided, once again, to keep only what I LOVE.  This is something I have done year after year for the past five years or so.  Why?  Because I am finally at the point where I am going to have what I love.  When we look at what we are decorating our homes with, we should be able to LOVE it.  We shouldn’t have to “settle” or “make do” or say it “will do”. 

It has taken me years to realize that I would rather look at that one item that I LOVE, instead of 10 items that “will do”.  We are better than “will do.”  We deserve more than “will do”.  Even if we have to wait a few years to save for it.  I want my decorations to give me the same feeling I get when I look at pictures of family – LOVE.  I am surrounding us with things we LOVE.  My husband’s items, I may not have the same connection to the items, but because of my love for him, I look at the items and think of him and of my LOVE for him.  

No matter what season, what holiday you are working with, look at what you have and decide if you LOVE your item, what comes to mind when you look at it?  If it is any thing but a loving feeling, I would suggest you get it out of your life – bring love back into your every day.  You see I have one Christmas item that I do not possess yet – that would be a Christmas pyramid – but I want to go to Germany and find it there – then not only will I have waited a lifetime for the perfect one, but I will also have fond memories of the trip we took to get it and will remember all the LOVE that it shows us.

So, did you follow all that?  I hope that, if nothing else, you stop and think about the “stuff” you have around you, give yourself joy, happiness and LOVE

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