December is the time for getting things, not giving things up, right? But ever since one of my friends mentioned “Denied December” in conversation, I’ve been pondering about consciously denying myself this month. Self-denial sounds unpleasant, but in practice it’s actually like giving yourself (and others) little presents! How fitting for this Christmas Season! Deny yourself 5 minutes of squandered scrolling to instead unload the dishwasher, and Poof! You’ve given yourself 15 additional minutes of family time after supper because you were able to load the dirty dishes as you were cooking. If I can convince myself to give up going back to bed because it’s still dark when hubs leaves for work early, I’ve gifted myself 20 minutes to relax with coffee and Jesus under my heated blanket in my chair “nest” before the school routine starts! I’m trying to learn that self denial is in the little things. I don’t have to forgo all the yummy holiday treats in an extreme attempt to change myself, but I can savor 2 peppermint Hershey Kisses instead of 12! I can squeeze in 18 counter pushups here and there throughout my day instead of feeling like I should be getting up at the crack of dawn to run 8 miles. Small good decisions day after day do make a difference! I can purpose do my best to be effective before 2:45 pm, so the bulk of my day’s work won’t still be weighing me down and hindering after-school peppermint bark production with Danielle. Instead of wallowing in overwhelm, I can make myself sit down and brain dump everything I need to do and think I need to do. Then I can attempt to cut out the extras and give the gift of a Less-Hassle Holiday to myself and my family. Or, like Mary, I might need to deny myself the luxury of even being able to have a plan! She didn’t have an online reservation email to easily pull up and recheck the details of the Airbnb “Stable Experience” Joseph had booked months in advance. Instead, she had to submit to ongoing discomfort while getting closer to utter unknown with each plodding step of her little donkey. Even though I’m sure she was a normal woman who was tempted to complain and to feel like her life was so unfair, I think Mary consciously chose to accept her situation as it was. I believe she made the choice to deny the desire for an easy path, a “normal” family; subconsciously giving Joseph the gift of feeling like a good husband who truly was doing his best to make his wife happy, and as comfortable as possible. This Christmas, I want to be like Mary and have a Denied December; giving those in my little world the best gift that I can give - my self, denied.
