Self-Improvement Goal 4: Send Christmas Cards

Every year I buy three or four boxes of Christmas cards. I fill them out and I sometimes even manage to address them. Since I do all of my bill paying online, I never need to go to the post office and I never have any stamps on hand. So, my pile of unstamped, unsent Christmas cards sits in a conspicuous spot, like a beggar on the corner, waiting for a little spare change for a stamp that will send them on their way. "Please, ma'am," they seem to stay, "Just a pittance so I can fulfill my destiny..."

I spend the first few days thinking, "Yeah, I'll get some stamps...I must remember to get stamps." And my good intentions will get me through perhaps a week. Then I begin to receive Christmas cards in the mail. I line them up on my mantle while glancing over my shoulder at my pile of unsent cards, which have begun to collect dust or artistic embellishment with crayon. Their unfullfilledness eminates towards me sending shockwaves of guilt through my nervous system.

By this time, I've spent my extra dough on gifts and I can't really bring myself to spend $40 bucks on a roll of stamps. All I can do is look at those poor unsent cards and feel a failure.

Not this year!

This year, I will buy Christmas cards, sign them and add a personal note, address and stamp them and drop them into a USPS certified post box or mail facility. The cards may even include pictures of my girls, but I don't want to get too ambitious.

How, you may be wondering, will I accomplish this task when I haven't been able to do it for a good three years now? I've enlisted the help of my Mom. I've begged her to help me see this through. I don't think she's ever gone a year without mailing a Christmas card and I know she will help me achieve this goal. Part of self improvement is knowing when to cry for help and that's just what I've done.

I can see us now, sitting at her dining room table with her address book open and my Yahoo! address book open. We'll be sipping wine and shaking the cramps out of our writing hands. But we will finish them. We'll stamp them and we'll drop them off at the post office. Oh, yes. It will be done.

This goal is very important to me. As much as I love online communication, I believe that writing personal messages with a pen on paper is a fine tradition to continue. If I can't be there to give presents personally, at least I can spend some time thinking about my distant friends and family and offer something more personal than what they'd get from me in an email. It's something tangible and beautiful and contains a degree of craftsmanship.

I'm committed to this goal and I believe I will be successful. I'd love to send a card out to anyone who's been kind enough to read my blog. If you'd like to be added to my Christmas list, please email your information to me at flannerychristmas@yahoo.com