Stress Less, Love More During the Holidays

The holidays are a relaxing winter wonderland vacation filled with family, friends, and food, where everyone laughs, cardinals sing, and woodland animals dress your tree...

Yeah, it's usually not that romantic, is it? It's usually you building up courage to wade through a sea of crazed consumers while you try to find that perfect gift for Susan, your coworker of three weeks, and grasp at your memory of your grocery store purchases, because did you get that orange juice for the cranberry sauce, and is that niece still a vegan, and what are you wearing to that New Years party...and and and. An avalanche of mental stress when it should be a time of wrapping up the year with peace and joy.

So how do you temper the stress and try to enjoy yourself when there's just so much going on?

First, reframe the things that are stressing you out. Are they that important? As your self questions, like "Will the meal be ruined if I didn't get that one ingredient, or if my niece eats fruit salad for dinner?" or "What's really important about this? What is the goal?" If you're entertaining people, it's probably because they like/love you. And if they like/love you, your idyllic execution of a Martha Stewart dinner probably won't change their feelings, no matter how the food turns out. 

Second, connect. A lot of people we see around the holidays aren't in our daily life. When you ask about their lives, also ask deeper questions like "How did you feel about getting that new job?" or "What is important to you about your new hobby?" Spend one-on-one time with them. Connection lands in the hearts and minds of people. That's how they remember you. But if you spend all your time stressed out in the kitchen, how much will they remember?

And lastly, BREATHE. Deep breaths. Hole yourself up in the bathroom and count to 5, 10, or 100 if you need to. Because the holidays will still come and go if you just get that impersonal gift card for Susan so that you can spend more time doing and experiencing what's important.