I actually am having a pretty easy go of it so far this holiday season, but for those who are having a few difficulties, I thought I would spend a little time and put an article on the site about how to deal with stress during the holiday season. Whether you’re a little down, which is unfortunately way too common, or just overwhelmed and feeling like you’re on the way towards an an anxiety attack, hopefully you’ll find a little value in this post and maybe stay centered as we work our way through a hectic period.
To start off with, are you expecting too much through the holidays? I had a friend in college who grew up in the same town as the school we went to. He used to extend an invitation to anyone around that they could always join he and his family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. He prefaced it with something along the lines of “It’s usually an alright time. There’s generally some drinking, usually at least some arguing.”
The point is that the white Christmas and happy Thanksgiving from the movies usually doesn’t really work out. For the other religious holidays over this period, I’m assuming that they don’t usually go off without a hitch either. So, just remember that people show up late, have troubles purchasing gifts, and usually someone will get a little upset with someone else. Roll with it, and remember to take deep breaths, and sooner than you think, the anxiety of the holidays will pass and be over with.
Come up with a schedule that you can stick with effectively. Don’t overextend yourself because you haven’t blocked your time well. If you’re not usually organized, now is the time to get organized. Do your best not to get dragged into big events that you can’t handle. Set your boundaries and stick to them as best as possibly. Decorating is important, but keeping from burning yourself out is more important.
If you feel pressure from family to follow through on a particular event or subject during the holidays, kindly let them know that they’re welcome to join in and give you a hand.
Watch the spending. It is a great time of year to go overboard with the credit card. In today’s economy, there are unfortunately way too many people who are struggling to contain their personal debts. It’s not just for governments to overspend these days.
How many people reading this have had a credit card bill to pay off that has stretched into the summer or longer? Set yourself a budget and stick to it. If people aren’t happy with what you’ve given them, tough cookies. There are a lot of people around the world who will never know what a Christmas present is. The holidays are really a privilege, so make sure that perspective is kept and you’ll better maintain your sanity.
Make sure you have someone you can vent to. Find a shopping buddy, or make time to meet with friends once or twice per week. If you find that venting isn’t effective during the holidays, then set up some time to talk about everything BUT the holidays and accompanying stresses. Simple enough, right?
If you take the time to eat right and minimize the mall food, you’ll also probably feel a lot better about things as well. One of the major problems that a lot of people have is that they put weight on every holiday season. A major source of anxiety for people is not feeling good about the way they look. Do your best to keep the junk food to a minimum and limited to the specific holidays.
This leads us to exercise. Working exercise into your daily routine will make the reduction in junk food even more effective. More walking around the mall, and making time to head to the gym if you have a membership is crucial to maintaining balance. This goes into the point of carving out personal time. Do this, don’t compromise unless you absolutely have to, and reap the benefits.
Do your best to plan ahead for each event. Get ready a week or two ahead of time so that you can stay relaxed on the actual holiday. Know what the day will look like from putting the turkey in on Thanksgiving to serving eggnog on Christmas.
Don’t turn into some holiday psycho, but try and make sure you’ve got a feel for how things should go. A loose schedule and as many important points as possible that you can knock off should be beneficial for your psyche.
Learn to forgive and forget. In the first paragraph article after our introduction, we talked for just a few words about people getting upset. Understand that while the holidays are great, they can be a huge source of anxiety, a little anger, and overall stress. Roll with the punches and decide whether a particular event is worth holding a grudge over. Odds are, it isn’t worth maintaining a grudge.
If you can do just a few of the things mentioned in this article, you should be able to minimize the stress and make it through the holidays just a little easier. They’re supposed to be fun, not stressful and angst ridden. Be ready to deal with the stresses of the season, minimize the anxiety and look forward to doing it all again next year. We’re all in this together.
