How to Manage Your Holiday Stress
Are you plagued by holiday stress year after year? Do you feel
as if you are a victim in all of this? Do you believe that you
are the ONLY one in your household who is contributing to the
success of the holiday?
Let me share with you some ideas for making the holidays
manageable. I used to literally make myself nuts during holiday
time. I was married to a man who thought his contribution to the
holiday was simply to show up, eat his fill and then watch
television in the living room while I cleaned up the kitchen. I
also had two sons who couldn't care less about the trimmings of
the holiday season.
What I am about to suggest may offend your sensibilities but it
does stand a good chance of greatly reducing your holiday
stress. When you are finished with this article, you'll have to
decide what is most important to you---having everything just
perfect or regaining some of your sanity. When all is said and
done, you can always continue to do it just as you've always
done. I'm only providing some alternative suggestions.
What is your typical routine? Of course, for me there was
mailing of at least 100 Christmas cards. Often this was the only
way I was able to stay in touch with people I cared about.
Then there was the gift buying. I married into a family where I
instantly inherited 20 nieces and nephews and the family
insisted that all children receive a gift from all the aunts and
uncles until they reached the age of 25! No matter what I said,
they were not going to be swayed from their position. Christmas
shopping, for me, was a chore.
Then, after the gifts were purchased, there were the many hours
of gift-wrapping that was required. And what about putting up
the Christmas tree and decorating the rest of the house? Let's
not forget the cleaning that had to be done to make my house
presentable for the drop-in holiday visitors. There was also the
baking of the many multiple varieties of cookies and the
preparation of whatever food I was expected to bring to any
myriad of places to which we were invited for holiday party
after holiday party. Add to that the stress of the inevitable
weight gain over the holidays and it was no wonder I was crabby
and irritable.
Once I began to practice Inside Out Living,