Finding Serenity in a Full House

Well, it's holiday season and our neighborhoods are filled with lights, traffic, people who take the holiday spirit a little too far, nice people, grumpy people and houses filled with people.

So the question is how do you find serenity in this chaotic few weeks?

I have 2 unemployed adult children, one of whom is now living at home and the older one decided to escape from NYC and come home for a visit.  Now don't get wrong, when you have lived sans children for a couple of years having them back is fun.  I do like being able to converse at dinner (husband is on assignment in another state and comes home for the weekend), but I find that I can unexpectedly get frustrated and tense when they get loud, obnoxious and what I perceive as disrespectful.  So how can I detach from this and find my serenity and my happy place?

There are several ways I have found to disengage from the craziness.
1.  If it's late in the day a nice glass of wine in a quiet spot, if its the afternoon I will make myself a cup of herbal tea and sip it in a quiet corner with my Kindle.  I have found that when I'm frustrated, angry, tense or unhappy reading a romantic novel helps remove me from the stress and envelops me into a fantasy world for a few minutes.  Also, the characters in these stories seems to have problems much more serious than mine, so I end up feeling much better about life in general.

2. Music - I have mentioned this before but laying in a very dark room at night surrounded by soft meditation music seems to cull the stress and allow a deep sleep.

3.  Leave the house and go for a walk, especially in the evening when people have their houses decorated with beautiful lights.  I find stars, the moon and Christmas lights to be magical.

So my advice for finding serenity during chaotic times - look around you and take in the good, the beautiful, the laughter and the love.  Have a glass of wine, a cup of tea, take walk, read a romantic story and you will locate your serenity.

Happy Holidays!