In a world where candy canes appear with the push of a button and snow falls on demand, we still have to choose carefully where to spend our energy…

Which is why today’s newsletter comes from me,

Francis Thee Elf!

Hey! It’s me, Adrian’s own personal elf! If you were around last year, you might remember me (Francis) first making an appearance to bring all the good people out there some holiday joy (Check it out here if you need a refresher)

This year for Christmas, Adrian asked Santa for more time… and well, Santa and I weren’t quite sure how to make that gift happen. Real complicated bugger, ain't he? But since Adrian has mostly been nice this year (although he does have some naughty moments, especially for 45 minutes when a treadmill is involved), Santa sent me to make his wish come true.

So, that’s how you’ve found me taking over the newsletter today to give Adrian some well-needed time away for the holidays! Francis handling Great Things Take Time? What could go wrong…?

If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe and join the Great Things Take Time Community to get content usually from Adrian and Frankie every Wednesday.

A Special Message from Francis Thee Elf

Being an elf isn’t all gumdrops and lollipops. We may be in charge of delivering the holiday cheer, but that can come at a cost to our own mental health. We’re so focused on making sure everyone else has their wishes come true, but no one thinks about us! There is nothing worse for an elf in the middle of the holiday season than hearing “let me know if I can do anything to help!” 

Gee, thanks, you candy-cane gremlin, I’d love to spend precious minutes laying out for you the exact processes needed to take place to ensure the festive cheer is done the right way, aligns with the current schedule, and nothing else is messed up. Sometimes it feels like everyone has gumdrops for eyes! Can’t you see 1-2 things on your own you could help with?!

Clearly, I have more things I need to unpack than presents in Santa’s sleigh, but I’m sure I’m not alone. It sometimes feels like I’m on an ice cap by myself, and no one is there to help.

So here are a few things I keep in mind over the holiday season:

Self-Imposed Cheer Is Still Pressure

I remind myself that the pressure for the holiday season often comes from me. All in all, Santa isn’t that tough a boss and isn’t asking for perfection. I’m the one who is choosing to bake ten different types of cookies for our end of the year Elf Joy Summit. One type would do perfectly well, and it doesn’t even have to be peppermint swirl drops with chocolate icing sourced from a location in the Swiss Alps untouched by humankind; it could just be chocolate chip cookies (from a store!)

There is a way to create just as much joy for people without as much effort because the act itself fulfills so much. Your kids won’t remember that every ornament was perfectly spaced and color coordinated with the mantlepiece decoration, but they will remember you were stressed about it. After all, they would have just been happy to have any type of decorations at all!

If Everything Is Urgent, Nothing Is Magical

Chaos is fun until you’re crying into a mug of lukewarm cocoa at 6 a.m. I’ve learned I can’t do everything I want to, and that laying out a schedule needs to include me being honest with my time.

As Adrian’s elf, I could bedazzle his car for some Christmas cheer, but then doing so would mean I’d have to spend hours picking each rhinestone off when he explodes after seeing it (and not in a good way), and then I wouldn’t have time to coat his bathtub in whipped cream and sprinkles, something I know he’d truly love.

Kids need naps and quiet time, parents need engaging adult activities, and fitness instructors need time to eat frequently. If everything is technically possible, then everything becomes urgent, and suddenly I’m sprinting through the North Pole at midnight, wondering why I’m exhausted when all I did was “a few fun surprises.” Structure doesn’t kill the magic; it keeps me from resenting it.

A schedule isn’t a cage. It’s the only thing standing between thoughtful holiday cheer and me absolutely losing my peppermint-scented mind over a task I assigned myself for no reason.

I still love a little chaos. I just have to plan for it now.

Stepping Away From the Jingle

I thought slowing down would make me less magical. Turns out it made me functional. Realistically, I can’t go from task to task, event to event, non-stop. Afterall, I’m not my cousin, the Energizer Bunny! Having time to step away makes me remember who I am and what I want from life. It gives me the chance to fill up my cup with whatever I need (usually 10 oz of assorted candy and whipped cream) and makes me more fun to be around. 

There is nothing selfish about taking time for myself! Because if one more elf says “just push through it,” I’m going to push someone into the toy river.

Remember, Someone Might Be Low on Cocoa

If you’re feeling the stress this season, don’t forget that many others feel the same! Keeping true with the holiday season, it’s important to extend kindness to everyone and stay patient with each other. You never know who is also running low on cocoa. Loneliness manifests in many forms over the season, and for some, the season is anything but merry and bright. We elves must remember to try our hardest to let the stress and grumpiness stop with us. We don’t want to bring others down, plus, it’s free to be kind, and in this economy, we’ll take free any day!

So no matter what your holiday plans have you celebrating, I hope that when the stress starts bubbling up, you think about what Francis would say and you put down the hammer and pick up the mug of cocoa! Wonderful holiday memories with loved ones weren’t created in one day; they happen over many, many years. Pace yourself, great holiday memories take time!

If you’re reading this and you’re the one who brings the holiday cheer… Thank you.

To the delivery drivers, the mothers and fathers, the caregivers, the essential workers, and everyone quietly keeping the joy moving: we see you. You’re the reason things arrive, get done, stay warm, stay safe, and still feel cared for, often without thanks or notice.

But it matters. The comfort, the smooth moments, the little bits of magic don’t happen on their own. They’re carried there by you.

Moments with Maurice Francis

CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY…

oh. I should probably take a breath from this sugar rush and get my life together. Want to join me? Inhale the peppermint scents, exhale the spoiled eggnog scents

Remember:

The slow sleigh still delivers the magic!

-Francis