It's true. I prefer the day after... the day after my birthday, the day after Christmas, the day after Thanksgiving. Post-holidays are far better in my house than the holidays themselves.
I've found that my kid's sleep deprivation due to excitement decreases their attitude while an increase in their sugar intake makes for more arguments and tears on any special day. More than that, my own childlike excitement seems to have been passed to my offspring, creating overblown expectations for every single holiday.
While I assumed I was making things fun and memorable, I now see a different picture in the rearview mirror. Looking back it must have been difficult to orchestrate a ten piece band with a cannon gun every month when I was young. With all my dramatized and over-exaggerated hopes for every special occasion, I naturally set myself up for disappointment.
It wasn't until I had to manage my own children's expectations that I looked forward to the day after the holiday. I still thoroughly enjoy holidays on my own accord, but it's the day after, that I actually look forward to. The day after, we sit a little calmer, reflect a little deeper, and appreciate a little better. The simple "plain days" really bring out my childlike enthusiasm these days.
I think when life hands you enough lemons, you begin to realize that lemonade requires only three ingredients: lemons, sugar, and water. With too much sugar, you get a bad headache, but with enough lemons, your tastebuds prefer a slice in your water with no added sweeteners.
After we spent Christmas-eve in the ER, Easter in urgent-care, Halloween in post-op, and birthdays with bugs, we started to appreciate the average Tuesday afternoon with nothing to do. When we are healthy, we begin to raise our expectations and think the world revolves around our dreams, but when we realize we are all slowly dying, our gratitude for the everyday grows stronger. We can enjoy whatever God allows because we realize He knows best.
You who are young, be happy while you are young,
and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart, and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body,
for youth and vigor are meaningless. (Ecc. 11:9-10)
Forty years came and went, and now I can relish in the simplest or grandest of moments knowing how quickly they change. I really don't know what the holiday or day after will bring. " Listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:13-14)
So why not appreciate every day with grace and give that costly grace to everyone else. If your special day doesn't meet your expectations this season, don't worry, the sun will rise again and the next day, the day after, may actually prove far better than the special spots you put on the calendar.
~The Day After Carefully & Carelessly
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