Many of us are preparing for upcoming holidays. That means it’s time for decorating, meal cooking, gift shopping, social calendar arranging, not to mention cleaning, wrapping, holiday card addressing, and … sigh. The list goes on.
Gosh, I’m stressing myself out thinking about all that needs to be done in the next six weeks!
Anyway, we all know too much stress isn’t good. Not only does it take the fun out of the festivities, I find that too much stress activates hormones that tends to keep me awake at night and a bit grouchy during the day. Being tired, frazzled, and irritable when spending time with my loved ones is not the way to get through the holidays.
There has to be an easier way to prepare for and enjoy the holidays. I don’t want to spend my time resenting everyone for all that I’m doing; I want to focus on enjoying this time..
Thinking about this made me remember some words of wisdom from the podcast. In episode #21 of Fit Strong Women Over 50 podcast, we talked with Leadership and Personal Development Coach Marsha Friedman. You’ll want to take some time to listen and use her tips to de-stress. (Note – the tip sheet from 2018 is no longer available to download, but you’ll hear many of the tips in this episode.) We received some positive comments when this episode was released. I think you’ll find that it’s worth revisiting.
We discussed many excellent techniques to cope with holiday stress:
- Deciding how you will take care of yourself (great suggestions!)
- Embracing your emotions and managing your mood when you need to
- Accepting help: how, when, who
- Setting expectations of food, family, finances, fitness, fun and friends
Do you feel stress during the holidays? How do you handle it so you can actually enjoy the season? Leave a comment in the area below or send us a message on social media.