Dear Africana Woman,
Sis can you believe it is already December? We actually made it to the end of the year. Can you do something for me? Just close your eyes, take a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. As you breathe out let go of whatever baggage you picked up this year. Have a picture in your mind’s eye of putting it down, and walking away. Do this however many times you need to. I think we all need it.
Gurl December is like a whole year in itself. There is so much that goes on. Well at least for me it does. My son’s birthday is in December, there is Christmas, Family, New Years, Wrapping up the end of the year, Cakes, Presents, Trees, bonuses (well I don’t know how many will be getting those this year, bless you if you do), Church filled with ‘Holiday Christians’ (you know the ones ka? The ones that think taking up my parking space on Christmas Day will give them blessings to enter the new year when they are at the club. Sort of like Tinkerbell’s magic dust, they are looking for some guarantee to slide into the New Year). Like the list just goes on and on.
Please do share what tips you have for getting through December unscathed in the comments.
I was actually having a conversation with some friends about how I do not like the Christmas Season. They called me the Grinch. And the funny thing is my favourite colour is green.
I’ll tell you what usually does not feature in December. A Budget. It’s like we all loose our minds and chuck the thing out the window. We like to say “Live a Little” “You only live once” “When else will I find this at this price” “It’s been a hard year, we deserve to celebrate”
May I reframe this for you. When the whole of dry January rolls up, you will not be able to eat the gifts you bought. The 50” TV screen cannot be made into gas for your car. The schools will not accept your new handbag as school fees payment. It is just not happening.
So before we go buck wild, may I ask you to invite The Budget back to December.
You can literally say to her, “Hey Sweetheart, I know you usually take a forced vacation in December, but I would really love to spend time with you this year.” Trust me she will forgive you and gladly spend time with you.
Top of the list on your December Budget:
Tithe and Savings
School Fees
New School Uniforms (by the way these are African problems, we pay school fees and our children wear uniforms)
January expenses (groceries, transport, rent, utilities, you know the usual)
After these are secured, whatever is left is your party budget. I know someone is thinking “Well that ain’t much left”
I agree.
But I want you to tell me when FUN became synonymous with SPENDING MONEY? We have a terrible habit of thinking they mean the same thing. We need new metrics to measure the quality of your time.
Here is one of my favourite examples. Im sure you have heard this quote before..
Children spell Love as T. I. M. E.
Which do you think is more memorable for a kid; receiving the latest videogame and basically looking at a screen the entire holiday, or you going out in the garden with them and teaching them the games we used to play when we were kids, you know abena icidunu, chicken in the den, cops n robbers, rounders. Like don’t take yourself too seriously, playing really is good for your soul. You know back in the day we didn’t buy fancy new balls. We used to make the balls with old plastic bags and legin (rubber bands)
I am inviting you to Simpulify things this Holiday season.
I would love to know what you have planned for the holiday season. Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, I successfully completed Good Morning Beautiful. Gurl I did not think I would make it. 30 days of waking up early to send an inspirational message. But I did. So proud of myself and I feel half of what I said I was preaching to myself hahaha.
I have kick started December with a workshop called Audit your Business for African Female Entrepreneurs to strategically plan for 2021. We are on Day 3. It is already a great experience. The women are so open and willing to not only learn but share ideas about their businesses. There is one lady who is tuning in from Malaysia at MIDNIGHT. Talk about showing up for yourself and your business. So when someone in Zambia tells me they did not have time to attend, I'm like:
Just playing. Not really hahaha. Everything happens at the right time. You can still join. Click here. Otherwise Darling. I gotta run. Please help me spread the word and share this with 5 friends. If you are new here, Hey Sis, you are so welcome. Go ahead and subscribe so as you receive your love letter directly every week. Thank you to you if you keep coming back to read this here blog. I appreciate you so much. If you want to talk during the week you can find me on Instagram @Chulu_bydesign. My darling my desire for you is that you love yourself, flaws n all and attract the life that you truly desire. Catch you next week.
Love,
Chulu
Comments