The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
It’s here! Even though I have been seeing Christmas references for a couple weeks now, it is officially the holiday season. That time of year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s when we prepare for the holidays by decorating, baking cookies, going to holiday parties, and whatnot.
I do not like this time of year. At all.
I like the idea of the holidays. Gathering with friends and loved ones to eat, drink, and be merry. Decorating a tree with special ornaments. I like the idea of opening gifts on a snowy Christmas morning with those that you love.
From my perspective those times are few and far between. Beginning with black Friday there is so much emphasis on shopping and finding the perfect gift for everyone. Running around to find the best deal on stuff, hoping people will like it and seeing how many gifts you can fit under the tree. You see commercials telling us to buy everything from cars to jewelry to toys. It becomes so overwhelming.
Call me Scrooge or a Bah Humbug, but I just can’t help it. It seems the stress level of everyone this time of year shoots through the roof, myself included. Just sitting here typing about it, I can feel my shoulders start to tighten up and my jaw clench.
I am tired of thinking and feeling this way year after year. This year I am going to try to change my perspective. I am going to try to decrease my stress.
I have spoken to some friends that we normally exchange gifts with and will be exchanging an experience with instead. I am not sure what exactly this will be (so drop me a line if you have any ideas!), but the thought of buying a couple less gifts already excites me.
For the other people in our lives that we will continue to buy for, I am going to ask Mike to help with ideas and buying. In the past I have felt like I had to come up with gift ideas, buy them, and wrap them all on my own.
Our Christmas cards have always been picture cards of some highlights of our year. This year I am thinking maybe one picture that makes me smile the most and use that instead of designing 2 or 3 cards with multiple pictures on and letting Mike choose the one he likes best.
I think this year I also want to give back to the community more. I am looking for ideas, so if you are in the Denver area and have places I can volunteer or donate to less fortunate kids and families, please let me know.
I do want to keep some traditions like making ornaments for our friends and family and have already found some fun ideas. I do want to have a tree as we decorate it with ornaments that have special meaning to us from years past. I do want to continue our little Christmas Eve gathering with some close friends.
I hope this works as I want to be able to enjoy this time of year instead of being a ball of stress. Do you have any other ideas or tips that you use to keep your stress down this time of year? I would love to hear from you if you do. Drop me a line on social media or at Steph@KoruLifeCoaching.com
