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The holidays are a time of socializing, enjoying festive
food and drink , and helping a certain bearded fellow meet the expectations of
wide eyed children. While all of these
aspects make the holidays enjoyable, it can be stressful when added onto an
already busy life, such as the kind most women lead today. So if asking Santa for less stress hasn’t
worked in years past, why not take a different approach this year?
Much like the holiday song, Let It Snow, this season try
making Let It Go, your mantra. Having a
positive thought to focus on can help center and calm you in the midst of the
holiday chaos. When you realize our
being pushed to your limits, stop, take a few deep breaths and just repeat, Let
it go, Let it go, Let it go.
Managing stress can also be aided by having realistic
expectations. Many women, myself
included, try to be superheroes, especially at the holidays. We try to buy all the presents, bake all the
goodies, cook all the meals and decorate the house, all in hopes of providing a
“perfect” holiday for those we love.
While the intent of these actions comes from a good place, it can cause
us to suffer and in the end that can negatively affect our loved ones, those
who we started doing all these stressful things for. Ask
yourself, will the holiday be ruined if I don’t make that extra pie? Will my
loved ones suffer if I don’t have put all the decorations up this year? Focus
on the important traditions and give yourself permission to let the rest go.
Family squabbles can add stress as well. A snide remark about someone’s weight or a
question about when you are going to get married or have a baby, can raise
anyone’s ire. Having a clear focus on
the occasion and realizing that the goal of the holidays is to enjoy yourself,
should lead you to let it go. Let go of
the remarks, the animosities and any bad feelings and just seek the good in the
season.
In the end, holidays are about enjoying yourself, enjoying
time with family and friends and making new memories. Learning to manage stress
will enable you to have a happy and healthy holiday season and new year to
come.
So repeat after me, Let it go, Let it go, Let it go.
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