In accepting reality (lowering your expectations), you will be calmer and more at peace. Your family is what it is. Your spouse is what it is. Your kids are what they are. Let go of trying to control or imagine the “perfect holiday event” and embrace your holiday reality on its’ own merit.
As an adult, I am independent. It is not up to my husband, my father, or my mother to make me happy or provide for me. I am in charge of that. There was no knight in shining armor coming to rescue me. I don’t need one. I have me and I am a warrior.
When I drop my expectations from some lofty, fantasy world of how everyone’s going to act, I feel happier and calmer. It’s not that I have lowered my standards, it’s that I’m no longer trying to control how others should act or what others should do.
Each and every day brings the opportunity for growth. Sometimes it’s growth I welcome and sometimes it’s growth I resist. In the end, I learn from it all.