The challenge of the holidays

I must confess: I've lost it 2 or 3 times so far this holiday weekend. I am not the serene being I aspire to be -- STILL. A work in progress, indeed.

The only thing I can say in my defense is that I do seem to be "catching" the anger a little sooner. I definitely notice it arising (as opposed to not noticing, until I'm in full rage mode). And I definitely see its causes. 99.9% of the time it's around an issue of control (see earlier post on that subject). My "special someone" is here in the house all weekend and that ups the ante, in terms of potential blow-ups. My challenge is right in my face all the time, so to speak.

A lot of us deal with this during the holidays. Families gather and instead of Norman Rockwell, we have sparks flying. The great irony of getting together with people we love!

It takes an enormous amount of self-awareness to see yourself barreling down the runway toward an anger attack, and put the brakes on. Sometimes this weekend, I have not been successful. But at least a couple of times I was successful. Yea! I need to remember that, and be grateful for those small victories.