Twas 2 months before Christmas and all through the house, all the creatures were stressin’…yes, even the mouse.
November has arrived and marks the ‘unofficial start’ to the holiday season. Hallmark is showing Christmas movies already and Sirius (XM) began their holiday programming as well. The build up has officially begun. At no other time of year is the potential for joy matched and possibly even surpassed by the pressure to experience that joy. At no other time of year do we experience this level of heightened drive for “fun” poignantly juxtaposed by the magnification of feelings of disappointment and loss.
While the holidays from Thanksgiving through the New Year conjure up warm fuzzy feelings and images of idyllic family scenarios, and beautiful candles, lights, and decorations; truth be told they also come along with a great deal of STRESS!
Can you relate to any or all of this version of the “holidays?”
Hard to buy for friends and/or family members (you know who they are!)
Obligatory social functions
Looking back at painful memories
Impossible expectations (thank you Hallmark!)
Daunting credit card bills
Aggravating family ‘rules’ and dynamics
Yuletide decorating (translation – clean the house, haul the 25 bins of decorations out of the attic, decorate, then clean up the mess from decorating and put all the bins back)
Staying on your healthy diet in the midst of all the cookies and all this stress!
Instead of peace and joy, we are often more likely to experience tension and overwhelm. When we were kids, this season was filled with “want to’s” and “get to’s.” (We get to visit grandma and grandpa for Thanksgiving! I want to go look at Christmas lights! We get to decorate tonight! ) Now our holiday mantras all start with, “I have to…” and sadly, “Is it January yet?”
Throughout the holiday season, we’ll be talking about and hopefully helping with some of this “holiday stress. ” For now, before you jump into the fray, just S-T-O-P for a moment.
Slow down. Take time to breathe.
Take another look at our actual priorities vs. our to do list.
Orient your expectations and plans around your priorities.
Prune. Take out some of the “have to’s” to make room for the “want to’s” and the “get to’s.”
Let’s S-T-O-P and think. Let’s S-T-O-P and choose to be intentional about how we steward our time resources this holiday season. Maybe, just maybe, we will survive without that fifteenth batch of Christmas Cookies or that sixth holiday party of the season. Just maybe.
Take care of you…
