December tends to be the most stressful, busiest month of the year. It's the time when we're torn between our personal commitments and priorities and going hard at work to finish strong on the year's goals, projects, and sales.

And while we may really want it to be the most wonderful time of the year, our to-do lists overflow with expectations and obligations, causing time stress, overwhelm, and frustration.

In my adolescence, acceptance conjured anxiety and strife. Regardless of my thoughts and feelings, I was told, “Just accept it,” or discouraged from questioning through the silent treatment.

Our house wasn’t an environment of nurturing conversations. Important topics of where I stayed while she worked nights, to what I ate, or who I was friends with were off-limits to negotiate.

I lacked a sense of inherent worth, so I filled my life with superficial possessions that helped me feel important and whole.

I justified that my corporate job paid well and that I worked hard and deserved beautiful things. Denial shaded my awareness of over-attachment. I was blind to the physical and emotional weight.

My husband wrote me an email from his cubical viciously detailing years of resentment and his desire for a divorce.

I read the words as if they were a fictional story. Denial was my immediate defense.

I thought I could fix it and move on with our seemingly successful charade. And yet, he wouldn’t let me. He refused to speak to me or see me. He was done.

For the majority of my life, I’ve been a doer. A list maker. A person who accomplishes. It was often a character asset and contributed significantly to my career success.

As an only child, I conjured up activities to keep busy. Busy in the sense of 9-year-old projects, bustles, and schemes.

Some seemingly important duties like laundry or figuring out how to make a semblance of a meal.