#350: Santa's Secret Sauce: Your Mental Health Survival Guide to a Perfectly Imperfect Christmas

And that's exactly what we do here at Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Your host, Kevin Lowe. He's been flipping the script on his own life, turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight-up inspiration, motivation, and encouragement just for you.

So, kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

All right, let's paint a picture for you. It's Christmas Eve.

You're running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

The turkey, it's way too done.

And oh my gosh, is the smoke coming from the oven? The cookies, who forgot the cookies?

Does this sound familiar?

The thing is, my friend, we've all been sold this idea of the perfect holiday.

We see it on TV, the Hallmark Channel.

But the truth is, is that that is for the movies, for the TV.

The truth is, is that's not reality. And so you do not have to think that your Christmas has to live up to those expectations.

And so that is why today I start a two-part series preparing you for Christmas.

It's the week before, and I'm going to give you a boost, a mindset shift, to change up how you have been doing Christmas.

Because I want you to enjoy the holiday. I don't want you to be stressed and overwhelmed, disappointed, and upset because it all goes up in flames.

No, my friend, that's all just part of the experience.

Let's start today with a quick reality check. Think back to your favorite Christmas.

What is the memory you think of the most?

Now, was that perfect?

Probably not. You probably remember it because things went totally haywire.

Things went totally wrong. But you know what I always say? The worst moments, they always make for the best memories.

And I'm not saying that I want things to go wrong. No, I just want to be sure that you are set up for success this holiday season because we are aiming for connection, not perfection.

I'm talking about forgetting about Instagram worthy photos.

Instead, focusing on belly laughing, love filled moments, times with the family where you're not all dressed up to look good in the pictures.

No, you're just dressed up to enjoy the Christmas season.

And so in order for us to do this, we might as well start with a challenge, your first challenge.

And that is for you to let go of one thing that you want to be perfect this year.

Maybe it's decorating the house. You want it all to be perfect.

You want the lights outside to be beautiful.

You want the tree to be perfectly decorated. I want you to choose at least one of those things and let it go.

Forget about it. Stop stressing over it. It doesn't matter.

And so my friend, just let it go. Tell yourself it doesn't matter.

I can let it go. And I want you to be able to feel the freedom that comes with that.

When we let go of the things that truly don't matter, we give ourselves an opportunity to truly enjoy Christmas.

So how do you be sure that you truly enjoy the Christmas season?

Well, first and foremost, you let go of the things that do not matter.

Second of all, you lower expectations. Because when we expect less, we enjoy more.

When we set the bar so low, well, then it doesn't take much to exceed expectations.

This, my friend, is the mindset shift that can change life.

You set your expectations low, and that way, whatever happens, it's either going to meet your expectations or hopefully exceed expectations.

And then, of course, it goes back to what really matters.

Is it having the most amazingly decorated table, the tablescape, something that would make Martha Stewart proud?

Or is it instead having conversations around the table?

Is it somebody spilling a glass of wine on the white tablecloth and you getting upset?

No way. You know that it can be cleaned. It can be thrown away.

It's all about having fun this Christmas.

Life is stressful enough. The holidays should not be part of that stress.

And I would also encourage you, if you're focusing on being sure that the gifts you're buying are wrapped perfectly, the bow is tied tight.

The wrapping paper has those tough little corners that are so impossible to do.

You have them looking so magnificent. You rewrap it two, three times just to get it perfect. My friend, nobody cares.

The only person who cares about that is you. So let it go. If you really want to embrace this, I encourage you, start a new tradition that celebrates the perfectly imperfect.

Maybe it's an ugly sweater contest. Maybe you give a prize to the person who wrapped their present the worst.

Or maybe it's a gift exchange, but instead you surprise everybody.

And the person who gave the worst gift possible, they win a prize.

Think about things to flip the script on this Christmas.

Making things easier on you. Making things a whole lot more fun.

We got to take the stress away from the holidays.

Because I feel like if we're stressed about the holidays, then that just kind of ruins it.

We lose the meaning behind Christmas.

So my friend, I remind you, your holidays, they don't need to look like anybody else's.

They just have to be right for you. So if that even means that you don't cook a big dinner, instead, you order take out Chinese food.

Whatever it is for you that makes things a little bit easier for you, I encourage you to do them.

Because, my friend, I promise you, at the end of the day, people aren't going to look back and remember that perfectly golden brown turkey or that gravy that was, oh, just perfectly salted.

No, nobody's going to remember that at all.

Instead, they're going to remember the memories made with the people there.

I encourage you to be sure that this Christmas season, you laugh a little more.

You tell a few more jokes.

You give yourself an opportunity to just be with the people you love.

So I encourage you to be present. If you have family from out of town, don't worry about slaving away in the kitchen, preparing amazing meals.

Instead, be with them. It's time spent with the people we love that matters the most in this life.

So my friend, I end today's short little episode with one final reminder of embracing the perfectly imperfect.

When the tree falls over, when the turkey is burnt, when the cookies are crispy and your Aunt Sally's fruitcake was horrible, just realize it's perfectly imperfect.

It's exactly how it was meant to be.

So I encourage you to enjoy every messy, screwed up, perfectly imperfect moment of this holiday season. And my friend, I can't wait to see you in 2025.

Merry Christmas. And don't forget to check out Thursday's episode where I'm going to give you a second little dose of some help for this Christmas season.

Until then, I'm Kevin Lowe. And this was Grace and Inspiration.

I hope you have an amazing day. And I'll see you next time.

Music.