Do you have big plans, grand ideas, and romanticized visions of how your holiday season will unfold? It's very common for us to have these images of perfection, only to have a less-than- perfect holiday result.

I believe it's important to do what we can to plan for and experience a wonderful Christmas season, but I also believe it's important to keep our feet firmly grounded so that disappointments don't overwhelm us.

We have the opportunity to make this season spectacular - not in its extravagance or perfection, but in the way we make the most of every day and every relationship.

Flipping through the pages of Southern Living, I developed a clear picture of how our Christmas tree would look this year. Gorgeous bows made from a beautiful, decorative ribbon, traditional family ornaments, lovely sparkling lights, garland of pine cones and cranberries, finished off with the perfect shiny star on top. Of course, the tree itself would be perfectly sculpted, even, full, straight. Ahhh, the perfect tree!

Last weekend, my husband and I set out on our quest for this perfect tree. We decided to rely on the local boy scout troop’s selection of trees that a local farmer had donated to them for their fund raiser. What a great idea! This way we get our perfectly sculpted, full, fresh tree AND help out an organization we believe in.

We loaded up in our SUV, twine and gloves in hand, Christmas music filling the car. Quite the Currier and Ives scene – at least in my mind! As we drove up, the trees looked magnificent! Freshly cut, full, tall. I knew we would have great success, and my Southern Living dream would soon become reality!

Upon closer inspection, it became apparent very quickly that these were NOT perfect trees. They were too tall, crooked, sparse, and lacked that certain something that was required to achieve “the look” I had in mind.

Not to be deterred, however, we stood fast in our determination. We must have looked at every single tree on the lot, much to the frustration of the two boy scouts helping us out. By this point, my visions of perfection had morphed into something akin to the Charlie

The process I went through – first envisioning the perfect Christmas dream tree, then slowly giving up that vision for what would be our reality – gave me quite a profound lesson for life.

We brought the tree home, carefully unwrapped it, placed it in the stand and centered it in front of our window. It stood there proudly filling the living room up with the delicious scent of pine. We became attracted to the tree, and soon forgot all about the “problems” that had seemed so obvious before.

You see, a week later we are quite pleased with our tree! Our tree is happy! It was picked out from a crowd of other trees for a special purpose. It does have flaws: lumps and bumps on one side, gaping holes on the other, one long, scrawny branch that curves up and around all by itself. Flawed, yes, but beautiful in fulfilling its purpose.

That long, scraggly, curved-up branch made a perfect spot for hanging our most treasured ornaments! The tree's gaping holes were the perfect place for the lights to shine through! All around, it is a lovely tree which we will enjoy for weeks to come!

Like that tree, none of us is perfect either. We all have lumps, bumps, and scraggly, out-of-place parts – both externally and internally. What a delight it is to be picked out of the crowd, cared for, treasured and tended to in such a way that our flaws are overlooked, and we are made to shine while fulfilling our purpose!

We have the opportunity every day to reach out to others and lift them up. To overlook their broken and crooked places, and say and do things that will encourage them.

This Christmas – let’s choose to do just that for each other.

Forget Southern Living! Let’s focus on making what we have, and who we have, shine like never before.

Visit LifeHouse Coaching to sign up for "Blueprints for a Dream Life" and receive Edi Sowers' f*r*e*e* weekly articles, coaching tips, and special offers. Edi works with women business owners who work at home and face the arduous challenge of balancing their personal and professional priorities in order to build their dream life.

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