The Holiday Season can be a wonderful time of year, filled with
lovely decorations, gift exchanges, visits with friends and
family and delicious meals. But for many of us, the Holiday
Season can also be quite overwhelming with all the added
activities such as decorating our homes, selecting, buying,
wrapping and exchanging gifts and hosting friends and family
while we prepare multi-course elaborate meals! The question
is, “What can we do to Overcome Overwhelm during the Holidays?”
1. Simplify Your Life
Holidays that are full of complexity are neither fun nor
comfortable. Complexity can easily contribute to feeling
overwhelmed. We can be invited to numerous events and want to
host others ourselves. These activities can be very wonderful
experiences, but there can also be too many to prepare for
and attend in a short time. You may also have to consider
selecting, wrapping and delivering gifts, decorating the house,
and, potentially, traveling to visit friends and family across
the country. Keeping the holidays simple with a manageable
number of events to attend and/or host, can greatly contribute
to Overcoming Overwhelm during the Holidays.
2. Practice Extreme Self-Care
In our fast paced world, often our physical bodies become the
last priority. We drag our bodies around nonstop and we can be
indifferent to signs of exhaustion. When we practice extreme
self-care, our mind, body and spirit are much more likely to
assist us in our other efforts by providing strong support
including energy, enthusiasm and presence. With extreme
self-care our energy is up, our confidence is high and we
feel much more positive. Some examples of self-care activities
include sufficient sleep, quiet time, exercise, healthy food,
and joyful recreation. Often during the holidays, some of our
self-care activities are put on hold with all the hustle and
bustle of the season. Taking proper care of ourselves during
the Holiday Season can contribute greatly to Overcoming
Overwhelm during the Holidays.
3. Celebrate the Unique You
Sometimes there are “should” or “must” dos on our to-do list
that we really don’t enjoy doing or don’t leverage our best
skills. We can end up delaying or not completing these
activities. Or if we take these items on, they can contribute
to frustration or overwhelm. Instead, we can consider whether
there is someone else who can take care of the item for us or
determine if the activity really needs to be done now.
There are many events and activities that we can participate in
during the holidays on top of regular life activities. If we
don't know what we really want during the Holiday Season, then
it will be much harder to say no to invitations that do not
align with our desires. A great place to start is to clearly
define our preferences in writing. By sharing our vision of
the ideal Holiday Season with our life partner, asking him or
her what their desired Holiday Season looks like and integrating
these two collaboratively, you have a plan the two of you can
action and support together for the Holiday Season. Celebrating
the Unique You, by respecting and celebrating your desired
Holiday Season, can greatly contribute to Overcoming Overwhelm
and experiencing more power, serenity and joy during the Holiday
Season.
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