by Cara Michele Nether
I have been exchanging stories from this year and past holidays with many of my clients. We laugh about how much we ate, how the dog almost ran off with the ham and how many more people showed up for dinner. When our conversation quiets and I ask how they are doing personally, I often get the same answer. “I am tired. I started 4 days before the actual event and basically worked all day and night.” We all love making the holidays special for our families and as women this desire is truly hard-wired in many of us. If we are not careful, our memory of the whole holiday season will be one big blur.
As a kid I watched my mom prepare for the arrival of all her siblings and their families to our home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. To this day I am convinced that she never had a true holiday from working and went back to work afterwards more worn out than the day she took off.
Here are a few suggestions on ways to lighten your experiences of the holiday and maybe even enjoy this time for yourselves.
1. Don’t use Martha Stewart’s Living as the standard that you must live up to.
2. Don’t put yourself in debt. Take care of yourself as you take care of others
3. Let go of your guilt. Let gratitude lead your thoughts.
4. Plan time for rest and exercise. Build in time for yourself.
5. Ask for help. Let your family and friends give to you.
Sometimes it is easy to think that more is better and that if we are not moving 100% of the time we haven’t done enough. As a 42 year-old woman looking back on my childhood holidays, I’m sure that I would have enjoyed myself the same if mom only had 10 different types of cookies instead of 15. Even though I enjoy all the food and decorations that were a part of our tradition, having time to hang out and talk with my mom more during our time off together would have been wonderful also.
So, take a few minutes to plan how you would like your holiday to show up for your family and for yourself. Will you choose a story you want to remark on or one that is blurry?
Click here to watch a video from Cara Michele about the Holidays!
