I'm In The Mood!

There's a song that goes, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." But around here, things don't look much like Christmas. There's no dashing through the snow or Frosty the snow man. A couple of days ago balmy temperatures in the high 70s were non-conducive to the Christmas spirit. The grass is still green (it stays that way here) and though some trees have lost their leaves, most trees, bushes and shrubs are still clothed in summer colors. My geranium even put on some new blooms last week! I've not done any Christmas shopping--simply could not get in the mood.

There is something I learned a long time ago. You might want to write this down and put in on your bathroom mirror or stick it to your refrigerator. Pin it to your sun visor in the car. Engrave it upon your heart.

Attitude follows action.

We'll talk about this on a deeper, more spiritual level some other time, but for now we'll just keep with my Christmas mood--or the lack there of.

What do you do when you want to be in the mood to do something but you just can't get your mind in that place of desire? Apply the attitude follows action principle and get busy doing what you would normally do if you were in the right frame of mind or mood. So that's what I did.

I made Rick drag out our two foot tree, and I spent all day--okay--the best part of a half of an hour--decorating for Christmas. I put a spicy smelling wax tart in my little warmer and turned it on to create the aroma of spiced cider simmering on the stove. I put the rinky-dink tree on the little table by our one recliner, then hung a couple of dozen half-inch ornaments on it.

Martha Stewart I am not!

Next I hung our nativity sun catcher on our big back window, and I was done.Jesus is the reason for the season.

Rick hung some lights on the awning outside a few weeks ago, so as far as he was concerned, he had already done his decorating.

My mood was improving, but it was still not quite there.

Last night we had to go to Wal-Mart to buy a new electric heater. (The old one got to where it would not come on unless you kicked it. Then it got to the point that it would not shut off unless you kicked it. Then--finally--kicking it would not even make the thing shut off.) We moseyed around the store to see if there was anything else we needed to throw our money away on, and I decided I needed a Christmas CD or two. (I think I have some back in Texas, but it has been so long since I've been there, I'm not sure any more.) Listening to Christmas music helped my mood some more.

Today it has been cold and rainy. At one point the rain felt like it wanted to be ice crystals as badly as I want to be in the mood for Christmas.

Again, isn't God good? I think the cold rain was the finishing touch, the last thing I needed to boost my Christmas spirit! Now, I'm in the mood!

I've got some other very important things on my list of things to do that I have to get done first, but now I'm in the mood to go Christmas shopping. I'm actually excited about buying gifts for all the people I love so much. (Well not ALL of them. I can't afford that!) My goal for next week is to power shop until I get 'er done! So look out mall, here I come!

I hope you are in the mood, so that you can enjoy the anticipation of one of the most wonderful celebrations of the year. If you're not, then get busy. Remember, attitude follows action!