Each Holiday Season we take time to remember our families and friends, to be thankful for our blessings and to make resolutions regarding our year end life inventories. It's a tall order for a 40 day window of time and it is fraught with expectations and pressures. Gone are the days when all we had to do to enjoy the Holidays was to "be good" in December and make out a comprehensive list for Santa. These days in addition to choosing and paying for the perfect gifts, hosting and attending parties both business and social, spending enough "quality time" with all of our loved ones and taking those year end inventories (that usually start with the compilation of a Holiday newsletter), we find that we are also under pressure, internal or external, real or imagined, to make changes to our lives for the better. To make our relationships more harmonious or to find a special relationship if we aren't in one. Even the best marriage comes under personal scrutiny. We ask if we could do a better job at communicating with our significant other or if we are doing all we can to understand our partner. If we are single we stress about attending one more company Holiday gathering alone and spending one more New Year's Eve watching Sex in The City and eating Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey. We wonder how to meet people we can take seriously and how to make dating fun and effective. We struggle with healing the pain of old relationships so that we can be free to love again. Each year these things come up again because in spite of promises and resolutions we have not found effective tools for making these life changes.

At Mapping Love, we have found that worry is best cured by the understanding of what you can change and the willingness to do it, coupled with the equally important understanding of what you can't or won't change and the willingness to accept it. Knowing what you've done that didn't work, taking stock of what you can't or won't do differently and then choosing a course that works for your life, you can choose to move through the Holidays with that long lost child-like joy and innocence. Knowing that there are effective tools you can use to make changes in your life, you can also let go of your expectations and simply enjoy this magical time of year. If you are not in a committed relationship you can enjoy dating through the Holidays. You don't have to have a date for every event, go with friends or celebrate the freedom to go alone. Make it a point to attend each function without deciding in advance what the "perfect" New Year's Eve would be like but rather knowing that whatever your New Year's Eve brings, it will be perfect for you. Buy gifts that express your love and caring knowing that the recipients will feel the joy of being remembered. Go to parties with the sharing of special time in mind instead of imagining what others are thinking about your dateless state. Mostly, remember that it is your life and you alone know who you are and what your life is about. You alone are responsible for choosing and making changes and you alone know best what fills your heart with joy and hope.

If we can help, let us know. In the meantime we wish you all the Peace and Joy of the Holy season and all the Promise of the coming year.

Annie & Stephanie
Mapping Love

DECEMBER workshop schedule

The Map Course™   Starting Over • Move forward with momentum. Saturday's Feb 26, May 7, July 16, Sept 24   Mars & Venus on a Date • Make dating a positive experience and identify your soul mate. Saturday's Mar 12, May 21, July 30, Oct 8   Marketing 101 • Effective niche marketing to attract the right one. Saturday's Jan 15, Mar 26, June 4, Aug 13, Oct 22   Understanding the Differences • Tools for deeper and more satisfying relationships. Saturday's Feb 12, Apr 23, July 2, Sep 10, Nov 19    Improving Communications • Valuable insight to create lasting intimacy. Saturday's Jan 29, Apr 9, June 18, Aug 27, Nov 5   619.823.5478 to register by phone

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Mars & Venus Institute® Certified Coaches