{"id":953,"date":"2014-11-26T03:00:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-26T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/theprinciplesofspiritualliving\/?p=953"},"modified":"2014-11-20T14:51:09","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T21:51:09","slug":"ding-ding-ding-ding-ding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theprinciplesofspiritualliving\/2014\/11\/ding-ding-ding-ding-ding\/","title":{"rendered":"Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Do you have a \u201cCardinal Rule?\u201d I do and I broke mine today. How? I went to the mall.<\/p>\n

You see, it\u2019s the week before Thanksgiving. That means it\u2019s after October 15, my \u201cdrop-dead-last-day-in-a-mall-before-Christmas\u201d Cardinal Rule.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t do last-minute Christmas shopping. I shop a great deal online, which means much of my shopping is done before fall begins. We also frequent craft shows, antique stores and festivals, all of which are in abundance in south central Pennsylvania. Plus, we celebrate \u201cBoxing Day\u201d (December 26) thanks to my fianc\u00e9\u2019s Anglophile perspective on life. Shopping for all sorts of presents begins the day after Christmas. You should only HOPE to get the deals we get!<\/p>\n

So why did I chose to title this week\u2019s blog, \u201cDing, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding?\u201d You have endured my three paragraph, \u201cget-to-the-point, Terry!\u201d set-up \u2013 a minimum requirement I\u2019ve set when I\u2019m sleep-deprived, had too much caffeine and some ADHD has kicked in \u2013 so you deserve the answer! Two words:<\/p>\n

SALVATION ARMY\"Bell-123909540w1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Really? November 20th<\/sup> and the bell ringers have to be out already? I mean the mall isn\u2019t even decorated for Christmas yet. Seriously?<\/p>\n

ARGHHH \u2026 another Christmas holiday has arrived, regardless of what the calendar says, and \u201cBINGO!\u201d \u2013 all the things I still need and want to do before the holiday arrives comes flooding into my little brain, causing me a mini-minor scheduling meltdown.<\/p>\n

Do you ever feel that way? You\u2019re cruising along in life, having a delightful day, feeling like you have the tiger by the tail and the world is your oyster, and THEN it happens! You remember you were supposed to do something (like write a major article whose deadline is ten days away); you\u2019re having guests for dinner and the food you were supposed to lay out to thaw is still in the deep freeze; or, you answer a call to find out that a friend has been waiting for the last hour for you to show up for lunch. You get the idea.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what might cause you to have these \u201cShut-The-Front-Door\u201d moments, but I can tell you how it usually is for me. Normally when stuff like this happens I find that I have scheduled so many things to do, or that I am so overwhelmed with worry about a situation, that my mind just plain stops working.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t find my keys \u2013 probably a good idea since the last place I should be at a time like that is behind the wheel of a vehicle. I forget to feed the fish. I forget to feed Terry. I simply stop remembering what I\u2019m supposed to be doing and find my mind off on an Australian-style walkabout. While amusing to others it can be most annoying to me.<\/p>\n

There is another reason I felt the way I did earlier today with the bell ringer. It\u2019s completely and totally ego-related. I don\u2019t recall giving my consent for the Salvation Army to set up this week (not that they\u2019ve asked in the past, mind you), and since they did so without any warning (HOW RUDE!), I was literally forced into the realization that Christmas is closer than I thought.<\/p>\n

Now isn\u2019t that just silly? I mean it\u2019s not like it\u2019s Easter or Hanukah that changes every year according to the lunar calendar. There it is, right there, smack dab on December 25, every year, year after year. Amazing how that works, non?<\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019re relating to this. Quite frankly, I\u2019d hate to think I was the only person in the world who has ever has this type of thing happen to them. The way I deal with ego meltdowns is to laugh. That probably annoys the dickens out of my ego, but I\u2019m not going to lose sleep over that. If you find you are a little surprised by events, the actions of others, or just something that doesn\u2019t fit your pictures, might you be willing to try that? Just laugh. I mean have a good, old fashioned belly laugh. You\u2019d be amazed at how well this works.<\/p>\n

I mean, compared to world peace, how important are our problems or upsets anyway?<\/p>\n

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness (and laughter!)<\/p>\n

Terry<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have a \u201cCardinal Rule?\u201d I do and I broke mine today. How? I went to the mall. You see, it\u2019s the week before Thanksgiving. That means it\u2019s after October 15, my \u201cdrop-dead-last-day-in-a-mall-before-Christmas\u201d Cardinal Rule. I don\u2019t do last-minute Christmas shopping. I shop a great deal online, which means much of my shopping is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1674,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[372,110,141,203,373,371],"class_list":["post-953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adhd","tag-christmas","tag-frustration","tag-terry-drew-karanen","tag-upset","tag-worry"],"yoast_head":"\nDing, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you have a \u201cCardinal Rule?\u201d I do and I broke mine today. How? 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