Written by: Lynette Hanover
It’s the holiday season. Time for cheer, holiday parties, shopping, and feeling festive. Not so much in a festive mood? You are not alone. So many people feel the overwhelm of the season rather than the joy and merriment the ideal image conjures up in our imaginations. On top of busy schedules of work, kids, volunteering, and other activities we are now putting up Christmas Trees, enjoyed a wonderful Hanukkah celebration, and prepare for Kwanzaa. How do we release the stresses of the season and enjoy the spirit of the season?
It is about the “spirit” of the season and not the “doing” of the season.
First I congratulate you on all that you have and will accomplish this holiday season. Aunt Millie’s specialty tea pot gift, Joey’s Wii, the decorations, the cookies, the parties. These help bring joy to everyone, including yourself. The best advice I can give here is to be kind to you. Don’t over-push yourself with busy times that you miss out on the magic. It really is ok that you don’t make the 12th batch of cookies, or instead of going to 5 holiday parties, perhaps go to 3. Take some quiet time to listen to holiday music, watch a favorite Christmas classic, drive around looking at holiday decorations, and spend time with those you love. Slow down a bit to capture the essence and joy of the season.
Make a holiday bucket list.
This list is not about writing down everything that you need to do. This is your dream list. Take a moment to think about the holiday happenings and activities that bring you the most joy and create a list. From this list pick out your top three and put them in your schedule. If you have more than three favorites pick out your next top two and add them in. As you do this take other things out of your schedule that are not the “must” dos as well as anything that can wait until 2014. This is not about doing more…this is about including the things that make you the happiest in your life.
Enjoy each day.
Today is the perfect day to feel festive and embrace the holidays. Whatever yesterday was or wasn’t and whatever tomorrow may or may not be, today is the day to take it one moment at a time. Take a few minutes right now to remember a time when you felt joy-filled about the holidays. Close your eyes, visualize, and truly feel how that time felt. Even when we are distracted or reactive to a situation, all we are to do is to stop…release what isn’t working and embrace the feeling that we would like to carry forward. Feeling festive can be created to help fully embrace the joy of the season.
Relationships are number one.
The most important aspect of the holiday season and our lives are the relationships we share. For some reason people create that the holidays are a time for us to come together as we enjoy the beauty of the season. Yet, relationships are so much more than just around the holidays. This season we have the opportunity to get closer, love, forgive as we need to, and carry with us positive momentum to have lasting, loving, and healthy relationships for the rest of our lives.
© 2013 Lynette Hanover, Life of Happiness
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Lynette Hanover has lead life-affirming workshops in Chicago since 2013, and is available to assist local groups, organizations, and individuals embrace joy in living through a customized approach. Coaching appointments are available to help clients focus on achieving what is most important in life through self-love, respect, and appreciation. For inquiries, Lynette can be reached at lynette@lifeofhappiness.com. Web site: www.lifeofhappiness.com
