Branna: Don’t Stress the Stress of Holiday Season
Whether you call it, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Hanukkah, or any other seasonal celebration . . . most call it notorious for STRESS! From picking the right pine tree to posting your packages overseas, both negative and positive holiday stress come into play.
One sure-fire way to put the celebration back into the season is to remember to take care of you. Whether you’re a mom, dad, or grandparent … single, married, widowed or divorced – be sure to set aside time this holiday to remember what really matters in your life. Reflect on your positive past experiences and find a way to incorporate them back into this season of celebration. Let go of the “luggage” that interferes with your holiday happiness.
Take a risk and experiment! Is it the thought of preparing a vast volume of traditional treats weighing you down? Don’t hesitate to delegate. You can still host the annual event, but be sure to share with your guests a list of things they can contribute to ease the overwhelming burden to you. Tamper with tradition and treat yourself to way more meaningful and monumental moments.
Back in my days as the Purdue WorkLife Specialist,
I created a checklist for bringing balance back to the holiday tasks at hand. I called it “The Top 10 Rules of Yule.”
- Know and respect your own needs and desires.
- Ask for what you want and need from others.
- Give yourself permission to feel sad, mad, etc., as well as glad.
- Keep the “goods” and toss the garbage of past pain – you have a choice.
- Set priorities – refuse to suffer!
- Make positive contacts with others in need (visit hospitals, the elderly, shelters).
- Give meaningful gifts (i.e. kind words, donate blood, volunteer your time).
- Laugh! Do something that brought you joy as a child.
- Take care of yourself – celebrate without abusing your body with food/alcohol.
- Pay attention to your spirit – reflect on what truly matters most in your life.
In addressing those fiscal fears we face in funding the annual feasts and fetes, I shared a few other tried and true tidbits that are guaranteed to lighten the holiday load. It is imperative to set and abide by a non-budging budget. I admit that this has been a pesky pill for me to swallow every year. My past present-giving practices parlayed into spending the exact amount on gifts for each (adult) child and grandchild – to the penny. And in striving to be the ever-sagacious seasonal shopper, I would proudly proclaim to have my shopping done and wrapped by November 1 every year. But the problem with that was that younger yearners would often change their minds or Mattel would masterfully plug the perfect imperative gift that could not be denied. Hence, the hunt for achieving equity was on! Some say that the definition of insanity is “repeating the same thing and expecting different results.” Well, that explains it – the shriveling brain cells of my former self, but alas! While I still strive diligently for a similar summation, no more Microsoft spreadsheets for me!
Whatever you’re fretting for this holiday season, nothing is more important than your health and the human touch, both literally and figuratively. At the risk of sounding sappy, I firmly believe the greatest gift is always love. I leave you with my favorite quote ever by Maya Angelou:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
When it comes to lessening holiday stress, I can’t STRESS this enough!
Branna (McCarty) Shores believes that “HOME is where your story begins.” A Noblesville native and proud graduate of NHS and Purdue University, she is a professional speaker, advocate for mental health and work / family balance and retired social worker. Branna is the mother of two grown daughters, six precious grandchildren and wife of one brave husband! Her passions include singing, writing and sharing the lighter side of life through lessons learned, both personally and professionally. She can be contacted at branna18@gmail.com