Frazzled, Too

In all honesty, there was a time in my life when I lived, breathed, and slept frazzled, and it didn’t always have to do with year-end events or specific celebrations. A few decades ago, several bouts of post-NewYear’s pneumonia brought me up short (or laid me out short, I should say). Those bouts definitely got my attention. You can only get out of a trap when you figure out that you’re in one—and take steps to change that. I decided enough was enough. (And avoid calling up and telling me that it is impossible to get out of the trap. If I could do it—the way I was raised—anyone can.) In a nutshell, becoming frazzled has everything to do with expectations; yours as well as those of others. It often results from running on the treadmill of life and failing to take time to analyze not only what is really important to you personally but also how you can extract the meaning of a celebration or event without getting immersed in all the merchandizing, decorating, and partying melodrama. The paradox is that celebration frazzle can occur from following ‘traditions,’ giving little if any thought to whether or not they still work for you—if ever they did.