Tis the season to be grumpy...

Why I dread the holidays:

Don't get me wrong… I am not trying to be anti-Christmas. This could be from my inability to handle too many things at once, especially when it is not by choice. This could possibly have something to do with my ENTP preference, or maybe it's just me. Is it just me?

I don't know what it is about the holidays. It always gets me in a funk. I get overwhelmed, I cannot think clearly, and I want to shut down… disappear from the scene… and come back when it's all over. Is it just me?

I generally love to be around people. I generally love shopping for gifts. I generally love writing emails, cards, and notes to people. I love being with my family. I love getting together with my friends. I love to eat. I love to sing. I generally love to help out whoever is in need.

One caveat: I like doing all those things on my own terms. Without a preplanned schedule. Without the pressure of feeling obligated. With the freedom of knowing that I don't have to do any of it if I choose not to. The pressure comes from my perception that we're expected to do all of the above all at once. And we must remember every single family member, every single friend, every single neighbor, and every single business associate. That's enough to make me want to torch my address book... Is it just me?

I've concluded that my brain has a limit as to how much scheduling and celebrating it can handle. My to-do list is on strike. The wonderful and joyous activities I usually welcome with delight turn into obligations that I dread. It all makes me want to curl up into a fetal position. Is it just me?

I just want to have the choice not to decorate, not to give to yet-another collection for the needy, not to make yet-another care package for the lonely, not to celebrate, not to shop for gifts, not to party, and...well, basically, not to be merry…

IF we had the choice NOT to do them (without feeling like a social misfit), then actually choosing to DO those things would have so much more meaning and be so much more fun…no? Is it just me?

I love the word simplicity. Was it Thoreau who wrote about it? A teen at our church pointed the following scripture verse out to us yesterday. Although that discussion was not about Christmas, I thought the verse was fitting for this post:

They partook of their food with gladness and simplicity and generous hearts... (Acts 2:46)(Amplified)

I know something's not quite right when I would rather sit in front of the computer staring at this endlessly than get back into the holiday frenzy… Is it just me?

Umm… is it over yet?

I've been tagged... to reveal six random things about me

I’ve been tagged.

Thank you, Breanne, for keeping me in the loop. This sounds like fun. Let’s see… six random things about me:

1. I have three birthdays: January 15, my real birthday; February 15, my official birthday (paperwork mishap when we moved to the U.S. in 1976); and April 23, my Christian birthday [what I call my “mind blink” moment – you can listen to my testimony here (5/25/2008 recording)].


2. I speak two languages, English and Korean. I’m also bi-cultural. I have two sets of friends. It requires two different mindsets. I can be fully immersed in either group, but not at the same time.


3. I worked as an Investigative Specialist on the Special Surveillance Group (SSG) Squad in the New York Office of the FBI in the late 1980s and early 1990s.


4. I sing every Sunday as part of the Praise and Worship Team at my church.


5. I have two other blogs here and here.


6. Sixth random fact about me: "Random" is a funny word to me. I can take any random thing and find a way to connect it to the bigger picture. Ha!

Now, I must pass this chain on to six new friends...

1) Hugo - http://ttm.appspot.com/blog/
2) Ruthie - http://ruthie-zaftig.blogspot.com/
3) Allison - http://musings.meanderwithme.com/
4) Matt - http://www.aninsomniac.co.uk/
5) Miller - http://skepticsplay.blogspot.com/
6) Matt Stone - http://mattstone.blogs.com/glocalchristianity/ - (relieved from this task due to lack of interest) ;-)

New 6) Richard Wade - http://www.mindblink.org/search/label/Richard%20Wade

Here are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you. Please see above.
2) Post the rules on the blog.
3) Write six random things about yourself.
4) Tag six people at the end of your post.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Tag! YOU'RE IT!!

UPDATE: Miller, Matt, and Ruthie - you guys are awesome and a good sport! Matt Stone was not interested in humoring me at all. At least Allison and Hugo are fixing to get ready to think about perhaps considering the possibility of taking a few minutes to ponder a few interesting facts about themselves. C'mon people! Where is your sense of child-like play? :-( I took back the tag from Matt Stone and decided to tag someone else who I know is all about not taking life too seriously and who knows how to take a few minutes have fun once in a while. That person is none other than our very own Richard Wade! Tag, Richard! Please don't make me a liar. ;-)