By: Kristi Spargo
Let me start off by saying that I am not a humbug. I in fact anxiously await the moment when that lazy December Saturday finally arrives, I pull out the ever-increasing bins of Christmas décor, I put on the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas CD (a childhood tradition carried over, much to my husband’s dismay) and make my house Christmas worthy. By the time I’m done, my children may as well be wrapped in red and green. Yet by the time December 25 concludes, my OCD tendencies have started to prickle me, along with the fallen pine needles now embedded into my carpet. Four days out and I’m fighting a losing battle, everything Christmas must go and my life must get back to normal again. By New Year’s Day, Christmas has been carefully preserved and stuffed in a bin, and I feel like I can breathe easy again.
I know that some may chuckle in solidarity at this disclosure, and some others may be horrified. Well to that audience I’d like to say, it’s time to take your Christmas tree down. When I drive by a house still decorated for the holidays well past the new year, sometimes into February, my husband knows to get ready for a tirade. One particularly horrible March day I went for a walk and I looked up to see a Christmas tree still on display in a neighbor’s window. I felt sick. 
Why am I sharing this? On a personal level, it’s my first blog and I am grasping at the chance to finally voice my opinion on holiday décor etiquette. Since this is a professional forum, however, it’s also an opportunity for me to apply my rational to situations that we experience on a regular basis in the workplace.
We all know that person, you know, the one that just can’t let things go. They experienced a high in their career, maybe it was a great idea, a perfectly executed meeting (does that ever happen?) or a recent promotion. For them, it seems as though there’s really no need to continue trying to attain the highest, they are living it. Well guess what. Time passes, things change, people move on; Christmas is over. The workplace and the responsibilities that all of us face are evolving on a constant basis. It is an inherent responsibility of every employee at every level to always be seeking ways to improve themselves and how they function within their job, and in turn, continue to produce high-quality relevant results for their company and their clients.
If I’m speaking to you, and not just that person, just because you did 
something well once it doesn’t mean that you are done or that you can continue to do that same thing over and over again. Christmas comes but once a year and it should be savored, but after it’s over, there’s always more work to be done, more improvements to be made and more successes to be had. Celebrate your moment and then move on.
A side note, it’s January 13th. If you haven’t already, please take your Christmas tree down.
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