I spent a good part of my Thanksgiving holiday napping. And it wasn’t because I ate too much turkey.

My body said, “Enough!”

At first I was frustrated. I wasn’t going to have time to bake a pumpkin cheesecake. And the holiday decorations wouldn’t be up when I wanted them up. I wouldn’t catch the extra movie I wanted to see.

And then I realized, it didn’t matter. All of these were self-imposed “shoulds” and not “have-tos.”

As I awoke from my naps, I realized that I was working longer hours again. I wasn’t making time for grocery shopping and cooking, let alone going to the gym.

It was time for a tune-up. Usually my tune-ups occur in January (New Year’s resolutions), June (start of summer) and September (back to school time always refocuses me).  Clearly, though, I needed an extra tune-up this year.

I made a list of everything I thought I had to get done in my life. I crossed out those things that weren’t necessary, but simply “would have been nice to do” items. Yep, no holiday party hosted by me this year. I’ll do better to have a quiet weekend at home reading.

I scheduled the items that needed to be done, even scheduling directly after work to keep me from working those long hours.

Suddenly the month of December looks a lot more peaceful and relaxing.

I may still take a nap but now it will be because I have “visions of sugar plums dancing.”