This Christmas I want to encourage each of you to take a moment to pause during the preparations and be present for the celebration. I know it can get busy, but Christmas magic is for all of us, even the ones who are making it happen.

I remember looking forward to Christmas as a kid. Not just once December started, but well before. Once Thanksgiving was done, that meant it was almost here. Time passes more slowly as a kid, it seemed like I had to wait forever. I’d get excited as the sights and sounds of Christmas started to appear.

I loved to see the lights go up around town, on the stores and public buildings, and also the houses in the neighborhoods. The twinkle of the lights outlining the rooftops and windows made ordinary buildings look festive in the nighttime light. I loved to see the decorations come out, first in stores, and then at home, even sometimes at school. Santa even came one year and I always hoped he’d do it again. I loved hearing Christmas music – everywhere. We had an advent wreath, and the more candles were lit, the more excited I got. Then the long-awaited day of celebration was finally here.

In stark contrast to that, as an adult, sometimes I think, “Christmas is here already? How did that happen?”. As a parent, I do all the planning and organization to “make Christmas happen” for my family. I have always started early because there is so much to do, and cramming it all in at the end isn’t fun and festive, it’s stressful. Though even with starting early, I was always thinking about what more needed to be done. Some things, like the grocery shopping and cooking can’t really be done early. There will always be last-minute tasks however soon I start.

One year, I was playing in the orchestra on Christmas Eve. We were almost ready to start playing, and I realized my mind was on the next day’s big meal. It was Christmas Eve and I was playing in a church service celebrating the actual holiday, but my brain was still in preparation mode. I wasn’t unprepared, but there were still tasks to do so my mind couldn’t let go of them. The celebration had started, but I wasn’t celebrating.

The fact is that Christmas tasks (and this is true of any major holiday), don’t end until the holiday is over, especially where lots of food is involved. I needed to accept this fact and realize that I needed to shift my mindset from preparation to celebration. Otherwise I would completely miss being able to enjoy the celebration for which I’d worked so hard.

Thinking about it, when I was a kid, I was in celebration mode the entire time. The excitement was slowly building as each piece of the holiday came together. Now as an adult it’s easy to be stuck in preparation mode. There is always something to prepare. On that Christmas Eve I realized that I needed to mentally switch myself into celebration mode before I missed the holiday entirely.

Now I am much more aware and choose celebration throughout the Christmas season (or at least I try to – I am far from perfect in this area). I am doing this deliberately by taking a moment to be present in what I am preparing. At the grocery store I imagined eating those delicious cheeses I was buying for Christmas Eve. I thought about how beautiful and tasty those dessert ingredients will eventually become. I imagined my family opening their stockings to find certain special chocolate bars as I clicked Add to Cart. And myself eating one, of course!

Choosing presence and finding joy in the preparations is only one part. Deliberately creating moments with the family together is another. Not all the Christmas treats have to wait for Christmas. In fact who can eat all of that in one day? For example, the point of hot cocoa is as much about having a moment where everyone stops their tasks and spends some time together as it is the drink itself. Even if it’s only 10 minutes. Tasks like baking and decorating can be celebrations too when we do them together.

Being in the moment doesn’t just happen for me. It’s something I need to be deliberate about. Realizing that has helped me to be able to celebrate more and that’s really what holidays are all about.

I hope each of you have a wonderful holiday celebration this year with your loved ones.