If you’re anything like me you probably have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with the holidays. I love the excitement, parties, decorations, rituals, music, gifts, and more. However, even these things can wear on me. And, the stress, drama, consumption, obligation, and more that often come along with this time of year are not on my list of “favorite things.”
In addition, I often feel like I’m not doing enough, not on top of my “list,” and I worry that I won’t get everything done in time to make the people in my life happy the way I want to. Can you relate?
This year, especially with all that’s going on around us in the economy and the world, what if we each made a commitment to appreciate the holiday season, have fun, and enjoy the whole experience – regardless of our circumstances or any external pressure we may feel? Appreciating the holiday season, as with anything in life, will make it much more enjoyable and much less stressful.
Here are a few things we can remember this holiday season to make things more fun and less overwhelming.
- Take Responsibility for Our Experience. It’s important that we each remember, myself included, that the stress we experience during the holiday season does not come from the holidays themselves, but from us. We’re always the creators of our own experience and the more we can remember this and live our lives from this perspective, the more empowered we are.
- Remember We’re at Choice. We always have a choice about how we engage with anything. This holiday season we can choose to be annoyed by family members, obligations, forced work gatherings, crowds, or anything else. Or, we can choose to enjoy the magic and fun of this time of year.
- Focus on What We Appreciate About the Holidays. Consciously choose to focus on the things that you appreciate about the holiday season the most. Tell the truth about this to yourself and to those around you. If at all possible, don’t participate in work or family gatherings out of obligation. But, regardless of where you are, what you do, or whom you are with – make a commitment to appreciate what’s happening, the people around you, and the many blessings in your life right now.
Even and especially when things are challenging, we always have so much to be grateful for. At this time of the year, we can take a step back, pat ourselves on the back, breathe deeply, and experience the gratitude we have for our lives, the people in it, and for ourselves. If not now, then when?
Enjoy these next few weeks…it’s up to you, as it always is. Happy Holidays!
The Holidays are not my favorite time of the year, as I believe it’s too commercialized, so I try to look at the Holidays in a different way and look for ways to show kindness to those less fortunate by donating brand new blankets to the homeless and donating holiday gifts to charities. In addition, I have written a list of rules for myself for a stressless holiday season. It really helps me to keep me focused and also to appreciate this time of year so much more.
After a busy Thanksgiving weekend, I was feeling stressed Monday morning because I didn’t get any holiday decorating done in my home. After seeing that Tuesday was a relatively light day at work, I submitted a last-minute request to take the day off. My boss honored my request and I got a ton accomplished at home while everyone else was away. I decided that this was the best gift I could have given myself and next year I will just plan on taking the Monday after Thanksgiving off.
This year I appreciate the fact that I still have a job – a job that I like, in fact. In these troubled economc times, I am seeing firsthand family members, friends and colleagues who are not so lucky. I am also appreciating my children, who are now old enough to understand the whole Santa thing and can’t wait to decorate our tree this week-end. And finally, I appreciate that my Mother and Step-Father are making the 7-hour drive from Orange County to the Bay Area to come and stay with us over the holidays. I feel blessed!
Thank you for your time,
Tiffany