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Your eye begins to twitch, you start to have sleepless nights, and you can\u2019t seem to find all the countless notes you wrote to yourself filled with \u201cto-dos.\u201d It must be that time again\u2014the Holidaze! Welcome to that time of year where our society and the commercial world slams us with messages to overspend, over-indulge, over-do, and over-eat. Welcome to the holiday season 2007!<\/p>\n
During this time period, the common mantra spoken by humans appears to be questions such as\u2026 \u201cAre you ready for the holidays?\u201d Have you done your shopping? How much many more presents do you have to get? Have you started cooking for the holiday meals?\u201d<\/p>\n
Most people would agree, November and December are the most stressful months of the year.
\n\u2022 Did you know that during this time period the number of visits to physicians increase?
\n\u2022 Did you know that emergency rooms are filled to the brim during the holiday season?
\n\u2022 Anxiety seems to spread like wildfire, and tempers seem to flare at the drop of a hat.
\n\u2022 Our bank account goes lower and lower and our frustration level seems to rise beyond comprehension.<\/p>\n
What happened to the concept that the holiday season was a time of joy and happiness?<\/p>\n
Try something different this year by really \u201cnoticing\u201d and being aware of what you are feeling during this holiday season. Ask yourself if you are doing things out of obligation or because you really love whatever you are doing. What would you rather do? What would make you happy this holiday season? What do you really see as realistic expectations of yourself?<\/p>\n
Try this\u2026 take out a piece of paper and make three columns. On the first column write \u201clove it,\u201d on the second column write \u201cneutral feelings,\u201d and on the third column write \u201chate\/resent it.\u201d Now list all the things that you normally do during the holiday season and place it in one of those three categories. You know, list things like going to the company holiday party, making fruitcake for everyone you know, going to a neighborhood get-together, buying presents for your distant aunts and uncles, making up your holiday letter to send to everyone you know in North American replaying the past 11 months of important life changing events.<\/p>\n
How many of the things you listed feel like \u201cshoulds, ought to\u2019s, or must do\u2019s?\u201d If you decided not to give in to these inner demands, what would you do with all your time? Record some of those ideas in the love column. Make a commitment to yourself to make this year different by doing more things on your \u201clove it\u201d list and less things on the \u201chate\/resent it\u201d list.<\/p>\n
I once read something about Halloween, which appears to fit for most people. It went something like this\u2026\u201cWhy is the scariest holiday the most joyful, and the most joyful holiday the scariest?\u201d Perhaps because on Halloween we allow ourselves to do what we love, and during Chanukah and Christmas we force ourselves to do so many things that we really hate or resent due to expectations of others and demands that are internally motivated by societal pressure.<\/p>\n
It would be a gift to yourself if you just looked at your \u201cLove it\u201d list and start scheduling those items on your calendar. The ultimate goal is to become more aware of what makes you happy and what is really important during the holiday season. Perhaps one way to do this is to give your \u201cpresence\u201d to your loved ones, instead of worrying so much about the \u201cpresents.\u201d Your loved ones don\u2019t need more presents from you, as much as they need you to be more \u201cpresent\u201d with them. Make this year a \u201choliday\u201d season instead of a \u201cholidaze\u201d season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your eye begins to twitch, you start to have sleepless nights, and you can\u2019t seem to find all the countless notes you wrote to yourself filled with \u201cto-dos.\u201d It must be that time again\u2014the Holidaze! Welcome to that time of year where our society and the commercial world slams us with messages to overspend, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10,9],"tags":[6,12,11,4],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anxiety","category-depression","category-holiday-stress","tag-anxiety","tag-depression","tag-holiday-stress","tag-therapy"],"yoast_head":"\n