Stress and the Holidays
4/27/2012
Holiday stress can be summed up in the word expectation. Expectation as to what you need to accomplish, expectation as to who you need to see and expectation as to what you need to buy. We rush around exhausting ourselves by trying to meet these expectations or feeling guilty if we do not. We sometimes end up too worn out to really enjoy the holidays.
The solution to holiday stress is to think through these expectations. Where did they come from, Madison Avenue or “old parental tapes?” What is it you want from these holidays? Would the children survive if you did a little more for yourself?
The real secret to managing time is not to do more with less. Rather, it is to prioritize so that you can do more of what you enjoy and less of the “shoulds.” Your expectations may be things that actually don’t make you happy. So why not change them?
You might find that you enjoy yourself more and everyone around you enjoys you more too. You might even discover that the great times in holidays past came from moments where you were just “being” and not “doing.” Guilt melts in the face of this. So this holiday, choose your activities carefully and take time to enjoy it.
