The Season of Advent begins today. If last Lent was the Lentiest Lent we ever saw – This year’s Advent season will probably be the most Adventy. And that’s not bad.

This tidbit from Richard Carlson’s Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff is a reminder to take time for yourself, especially during these stressful times, especially during the Season of Advent.

In the field of financial planning there is a universally accepted principle that it’s critical to pay yourself first, before you pay your other bills – to think of yourself as a creditor. The rationale for this financial wisdom is that if you wait to put money into savings until after everybody else is paid, there will be nothing left for you. The result is that you’ll keep postponing your savings plan until it’s too late to do anything about it. But, lo and behold, if you pay yourself first, somehow there will be just enough to pay everyone else too.

The identical principle is critical to implement into your program of spiritual practice. If you wait until all your chores, responsibilities, and everything else is done before you get started, it will never happen – guaran- teed. You have to schedule a little time each day as if it were an actual appointment, to ensure that you will take some time for your- self. You might become an early riser, for example, and schedule one hour that is re- served for reading, praying reflecting, medi- ating, yoga, exercise, or however you want to use the time. How you choose to use the time us up to you. The important thing is that you do schedule the time and that you stick to it. There was a woman who actually hired a baby-sitter on a regular basis to ensure that she had the chance to do the things she felt she needed to do. Her efforts have paid enormous dividends. She is happier than she ever thought possible. She said that there was a time that she never would have imagined hiring a baby-sitter to ensure this type of quality time for herself. Now that she has done it, she can’t imagine not doing it! If you set your mind to it, you can find the time you need.

 In the midst of all the rigmarole (good word) of this season, in the midst of the craziness of the pandemic, find time for yourself this Advent. Come to daily Mass. Do a holy hour during Eucharistic Adoration (a good singular religious practice that is OK’ed by the CDC! – a joke). Light your Advent wreath before dinnertime. Read a good book. Do some- thing to find your sanity.

Have a great Advent!!

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