Today is a ‘let down’ day in our household. It started last night at bedtime. The children did not want to go to bed, they did not want Christmas to end. We’re fortunate in that way; Christmas is special for us and them in a positive way. I know it is not this way for all. The anticipation for Christmas is great in our house and there was much pure delight on their faces as they ran down the stairs yesterday.
And now it is over. The anticipation at least. Much still remains – the gifts, the people, the decorations. Christmas still goes on in that way. But there is a let down.
This is true not only of or at Christmas. I know I experience the let down after proposals, projects, work on change, and so on. There is the work of advocacy, of pitching, of dreaming, of anticipating what might be. And then it happens. We get approved, accepted, given permission. We get picked. (Or we finally pick ourselves). The anticipation is over.
And then the real work begins. And hopefully, like in our household today, the let down is short and joy of engaging in the playing (or the work of implementing) may be yours.
Photo by Ken Suarez
I resonate deeply with this. Your post reminds me of Howard Thurman’s “The Work of Christmas”:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.