Here we are. It’s almost Christmas. Almost New Year. Have you been counting the days? I have. Terrified how little time is left to January and the deadline that it brings for me. My list of want-to-dos and to-dos is as long as the tail of my son’s crocodile and the time space available to do them smaller than its nostril. And you know, normally, a small nostril and a long tail equal a lot of stress, but should it really? At this time?

The end of the year has always been like that. Never free from deadlines, objectives and rushing. They are either self-inflicted or given to us by others. The world goes crazy before Christmas. It’s as if there was nothing after 31 December. As if our objectives, work and dreams had no value next year. Somehow we have persuaded ourselves that things need to be finished by Christmas. The thing is… Christmas is not a deadline and it should not be a deadline. Christmas is about allowing joy and hope to have its moment. Our depleted and battered-by-targets souls need their so rarely administered nutrients… they need tranquility and they need congratulations. Yes, congratulations. Pause this Christmas and congratulate yourself on being who you are, on having what you’ve got, on being able to do what you have done. Let me congratulate you too: on this amazing work that you’ve done this year, on finding strength to carry on when all that you really want is rest, on the willingness to extend yourself, on making small and big steps towards bettering yourself and others, and on ticking some boxes and on choosing not to tick others.

And what to do with those boxes that remain pristine? We’ll use them later. Now it’s Christmas! Congratulations are due!