A Christmas to Remember

by Jenny Hale

People under stress can benefit from doing something familiar.

It’s often helpful to find healthy distractions.

Take five minutes per day and do something that makes you happy.

Speak confidently. Confidence is key in making favorable first impressions.

There was something undeniably kind about Adam.

Trust yourself. Believe in your intuition. Go with your instincts. These are traits of confident people…

Surround yourself with positive energy.

This little moment between them sent her head spinning against her will.

Know your strengths and use them.

it was clear from only a few days with them that what the kids needed was time with their father, and Adam needed to show them love.

He was good-looking, certainly, but the fact that he’d listened to her, paid attention to her request, and honored it, made him more attractive than any good looks could.

Adam Fletcher was getting a Christmas tree.

The kids would be able to say that they bought a tree with their father. How wonderful.

Deep breathing can evoke calm.

Adam was kind and gentle, and she knew that deep down he loved his kids too.

With that one gesture, she felt in the way, and she wished that she hadn’t bothered to ask him to help them get a tree. She imagined that this was how David and Olivia must feel. Again, he’d dismissed her actions as if they meant nothing, and that was probably true. Last time, she’d been frustrated, irritated by his behavior, but this time, he’d disappointed her.

Label your bad habits and eliminate them.

After the Christmas tree fiasco, there was no way she was ever going to put herself in that position again. Adam had made it quite clear by his actions where his family fell on his list of priorities. Not to mention the way it had made her feel when he’d just dismissed her, handing out his credit card with barely a glance in her direction.

He was missing out on so much. He had a lot of money and very nice things, but he didn’t enjoy any of them.

He’d seen the trip to the tree lot as just another tick on his to-do list. It hadn’t been about spending time with his children at all.

His quiet and controlled nature calmed her.

To improve your personal life, find ways to make connections with new people.

She had a laugh like warm apple pie, and she smelled like roses.

I spent every day with her after that.” Walter wiggled his leg again. “Every single day until the good Lord wanted to have her back.”

Perhaps the upcoming snowstorm would keep him home…

“It’s starting to snow again,” he said. All the cooking, the warm glow of the Christmas lights, and having him home—it all made the idea of more snow seem perfect. She wished selfishly that the storm would dump so much snow that he wouldn’t be able to go into work. She was having such a lovely night with this family of strangers; she wanted him to be a part of it.

his blue eyes on her.

his gaze not lingering for long, but she’d noticed it. An electric sort of energy shot through her. She’d never cared how she looked before or what people thought of her when she was working around the kitchen, but when his eyes were on her, she couldn’t help but stand a little straighter, tuck her hair behind her ear when the loose strands fell down around her face.

He had the ability to relax if she could just make him see that he needed to do it more often.

She nodded although she wanted to keep him there in that moment, with the snow coming down, the burning candle showing off the tiny gold flecks in his blue eyes.

When something worries you, examine your thoughts.

She’d only been with the children a few days and the thought of leaving them made her chest ache. She saw so much good in them, so much she could try to do to make their lives a little better.

They believed that Adam spent time on what he loved, and he never spent time with them. With his actions, every time he chose work, he was telling them that he loved work more than he loved them.

Look confident, even when you don’t feel it.

“This call is for my children. If I fall down on the job, the whole thing will go under, and I won’t be able to provide a thing for them.

He wasn’t angry, she thought; he was defensive. She could work with defensive.

“I know you work hard to provide for your children. But you have to show them sometimes that what they need is important. If you don’t, they’ll grow up thinking you don’t value them.

“They need more than your money.”

“I saw you and the children with Adam. I don’t think anyone’s ever pulled him away from his work before.”

she liked the way it felt to be near him.

she couldn’t stop the thrill from rising up, knowing that they’d just had another of their little moments.

Surround yourself with people who make you feel secure.

Seek out those who support you.

“I know that your marriage was a disaster. I know that you have no relationship with your own children. I know that you can’t relate to any of us anymore because the only people you ever socialize with are from work. We all represent your failures—your marriage was a mess and you got hurt unbelievably in the process; your connection with your children is a failure because you work so much you don’t know how to communicate with them; and your relationship with your family has failed—I think that’s why you threw yourself into your work; you barely spend time with any of us. Especially Sharon.” Joyce

“I know you’re great at work and I’m proud of you for what you’ve achieved. But you have to try to be better with everything else, including the things that don’t come as easily for you.”

“I’m not going to give this up. I’ve worked too hard for it, and—that’s right—it’s what I love to do.” “Do you love it enough to sacrifice your family?”

Identify what triggers your stress and eliminate it.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, as annoyed as he made her sometimes, she was smitten with him and she felt protective of him.

Happiness is achieved by doing what you love.

To ease stress, consciously take time to relax.