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The most wonderful season of all? Yes, it can be but it can also be filled with stress, over commitments, arguments and utter exhaustion. How many of us wind up getting sick either during or after the holidays?
We get so excited for the lights, the outings, the parties, the gift giving we end up feeling frazzled and swearing to ourselves that next year will be different. If you don’t want to repeat the same thing this year, here are my 3 tips for managing holiday stress.
I’ve had such a long-standing and exhausting relationship with the word “Sorry” and specifically the phrase, “I’m Sorry” that I’m truly ready for a break up.
The reason why I take such issue with the “S” word is that I believe each and every time we start a sentence with it; we automatically feel a touch guilt or shame. My hope is that by writing this and by talking about this more that I may be able to make progress with this goal and help any of you out there who struggle with this too.
Conflict is part of any relationship so why is it so devastating when it happens in our (romantic) relationships? As part of a couple we tie ourselves together but we are also our own people with our own needs or perceptions. When conflict arises, I believe we can look at it as a tool to strengthen, not weaken our relationships.
Sometimes with very small changes, the conflict can be productive, helpful and not something to be feared or avoided.
With every new experience that wakes us up to what we care about and want, comes moments of anxiety and a sense of overwhelm. It is important for us to not lose site of what we are gaining as we go through life’s unending list of changes and frustrations.
Give yourself the space to figure out what you want and to make conscious choices from that place versus critical statements that make you feel worse about not having what you want. Remember we construct our own reality and we can choose a positive version for ourselves or the complete opposite; it’s entirely up to us.
“What other people think of you is none of your business.” For as long as I can remember, I have always cared about what other people thought of me. As I grew older, this sense of wanting or needing to be liked extended to what people thought of my husband and then my kids.
It’s truly exhausting and unhelpful and a really big waste of my time and energy. If you can believe it, letting go of what others think is a wonderful feeling because I feel my best when I know I’m doing right by myself.
Next week my husband and I are getting on a plane, just the two of us, for a four night getaway. Have I mentioned yet that it will be just the two of us? While this leaves me nervous but also excited, I know my husband and I need this time together.
It’s important to reconnect and remember who we were are as a couple before the kids came along and to continue building our partnership so our foundation is strong for the kids.
We have all been here. “Can any parent volunteer this week?” Of course I can do this! So up go my expectations. What a supermom I’ll be this week, juggling my kids’ schedules, balancing my job, checking in with my husband and sneaking off on Thursday to be a hero in my front of my daughter and her friends.
Sometimes cramming one more thing into your already busy schedule might throw you and your emotions into overdrive and there is always another chance to have your supermom moment. Plus it usually happens when we’re doing something uneventful like cooking dinner.
Remember, our kids worship us just for being us. No cape needed, just plain old us.
The holiday season is behind us. I loved December and all of it’s sparkly excitement! For Santa and his sleigh, Hanukkah and it’s eight nights, family feasts and ribbons and bows and well, you get the picture.
But with every rite of passage, I’m happy to see the door close on December and have my faced turned towards the January sun and all that lies ahead. However, looking back on the past few weeks I’ve learned some great lessons that I’d thought I write about today.
