We’re driving me Mudder-In-Law’s newish station wagon and I’m plenty pleased about that.  The head lights work in this car; which is a site more (no pun intended) than I can say about the headlights on our car.  Plus, it has an aux port that I can plug my ipod into.  Yes!  I won’t be forced to listen to music on our journey which will inevitably be much longer than usual.  As I think I mentioned there is more ice than asphalt on the road today.

Our mission is to get to the family acreage just west of Edmonton where our holidays can materialize in a peaceful and pastoral setting that most would be jealous of.  Everyone else seems to be pretty relaxed apart from the occasional grumbling from the back seat.  Me Fawder-in-Law is showing pretty good restraint, but despite his best intentions he is, in fact, a back seat driver.

We pull into the drive way and are delighted to discover that the lock to the gate is frozen solid.  A few minutes later David, (aka Daffle. aka me Fawder-in-law) gets it working.

It is 11:30pm and we’re all in the house.  We left Calgary at 4:30.  Albeit we stopped in Red Deer for a sit down meal, but it’s still a long trip no matter how you dice it.

My big insight from the trip?  Well it’s this:  people who are not feeling relaxed like to tell other people to relax. I reminds me of that amazing bit of wisdom hidden in the lines by Mr. Shakespeare:  “Methinks thou doth protest too much.” (This is a misquote, by the way, but I really don’t care – there’s truth in it whether or not Shakespeare said it.  More on the misquote here.) I take this bastardized quote to mean: we complain about stuff we are guilty of.

Christmas Tip:  Study the people you are with. What do they complain about? Are they guilty of the same?  If they ask you to relax you can probably assume they don’t feel relaxed. Use this to your mutual benefit and figure out how to make them feel calm.

Christmas Tip: There is another powerful tool for understanding what people are REALLY thinking about themselves.  COMPLIMENTS. There is an ancient proverb that reads: The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.  Yup, it’s easy.  Compliment people and see how they respond.  You can learn an awful lot about them.  You can even try it on yourself.  How do you react when receiving a compliment?

What if someone told you: “That was a great present you picked for me.”  ?   Would you say in your heart, “Oh, I’m really glad you liked it.”  Or would you say, “Oh, it’s not exactly what I wanted to get you!” OR, “If only you knew how much I wish we could get along… this gift is the only way I can show you love.”  (Or a mix of all.)  I’m not sure what you’ll discover, but you’ll learn something about yourselves and others.

We’re all squared away in our rooms now.  I’m writing because I’m really desperate to finish my 12 days in some sort of style and a miss just doesn’t seem like I’d be doing the countdown justice.  That and, well, this is a nice break from driving.  Flexing my creative muscle a bit does wonders for my personality.  Lucky for me, and everyone else, Tash and me Mudder-in-Law forced me to bring a guitar.  I suspect it will bring great peace and harmony to my heart over the holidays and will spare my family me asking them to relax.

I’m mostly done Tash’s shopping (The only person I have to buy for…) but I still have one thing I’d like to get her.

How’s your shopping going?   On holidays yet?

I hope all is well.

sb

(BTW Despite numerous attacks from suitcases and food that managed to launch covert ops from the bags they were hiding in the dog did maintain his spot in the car.)