If you live in the U.S., I hope you had a restorative Thanksgiving weekend. If you missed my video last week on how to create a powerful intention for the holidays, check it out here. I’m happy to say that I had the BEST Thanksgiving weekend with my family. The best one yet. And that’s because of the intention I created.
The holidays are usually incredibly overwhelming and emotional for me, so this was a huge breakthrough.
I wanted to experience love, connection, and joy with my family and friends and I did just that and more. Every choice I made throughout our time together helped us all experience deep love, connection and joy. I left feeling so filled up with gratitude for my life.
Here are a few of the highlights of my trip home with my family.
Our family dog (who is sick with lymphoma) snuggled with me every night as a way to savor our remaining months together.
My cousin and her fiancé asked me to officiate their wedding in the Fall. (OMG!).
I played basketball with my dad and boyfriend and remembered how competitive and athletic I am. (I won.)
I ate Thanksgiving at the “Kids Table” and soaked up the innocent joy of my 11 little cousins.
But wait…
While this was the best Thanksgiving ever, I need to confess one small little thing that snuck up and blindsided me.
I FORGOT TO POWERFULLY COMPLETE THE WEEKEND!
I was so happy with my result of a successful Thanksgiving with my family, that I forgot to focus on my return home. I forgot to resource and wrap a beautiful bow around the experience when I returned to my house in San Francisco.
Instead of powerfully completing the weekend, I crashed and burned. Whoops 🙂
This is something I used to do after leading big workshops, and other epic experiences like Burning Man and other festivals.
When we expand, we contract. This is our nature. I’m usually aware of the rebound effect, but NOT THIS weekend! I completely forgot.
My crash looked like crying and missing my dogs. It looked like “relaxing in the hot tub” to unwind with Steve, when instead I used that time to bicker with him over the same old argument we always get into. (Not fun!)
I realized as I crawled into bed that evening that I had forgotten to include my return home and back to reality in my intention. I visualized all the love, joy and connection with my family, but what about the love, joy and connection with my boyfriend upon my return home?
NOW I KNOW! For all future intentions that I set, I MUST see the intention all the way through to the day after the experience ends. Every moment counts.
Here’s what I could have done to complete the weekend…
I could have journaled about my gratitude for the weekend to bring it to a powerful close. I could have written about my favorite frames and memories from the weekend.
I could have watched a happy Christmas movie and relax and snuggle with Steve without any words. (I was tired. Being tired is a great ingredient for fights! Better to steer clear of a triggering conversation and relax without words.)
I could have noticed my internal state and named my feelings, instead of suppressing them and reacting to them in sideways ways that looked like bickering and arguing with Steve.
I could have texted a family member to share how much I loved them.
I could have asked myself, “Are you choosing love, connection, and joy right now?” The answer was NO. A big fat no. I had forgotten about my intention.
So… Please, dear ones.
Don’t crash and burn like me. When you create your intention, play the WHOLE tape through. I made the mistake of only focusing my attention through Sunday morning. I forgot to focus my energy and love into Monday morning as well.
Human beings rarely powerfully complete things.
We start books and don’t finish them.
We create ideas and don’t execute them.
We quit jobs without honoring and grieving them.
When you create an intention, stick to it.
When I realized I fell off course of my intention, I GOT BACK ON. I chose again. It took me one breath, one hug, one apology, and one act of self forgiveness to return to love, joy, and connection.
That’s why I’m still telling my friends that I had the best Thanksgiving weekend ever.
I’m grateful for my humanity. I’m grateful for this lesson.
Thanks for reading my story.
So much love,
Chrissy
P.S. Tell me about your weekend! I’d love to hear about your own intention and anything you learned along the way. Reply back to let me know. I’d love to connect.
