The thought of the holiday season makes most people’s anxiety and stress level rise. The season holds lots of activity which will include list making, frantic shopping, house decorating, food shopping, cooking, family frictions, post office line waiting, cleaning the house, and a longer list of other unavoidable chores to endure. Before you start to feel exhausted by holiday season frenzy, learn to love yourself by having more respect and esteem for yourself. Create a healthy attitude in knowing that the more you treat yourself kindly, the more your whole family benefits.
Taking more “me?time during this season is highly recommended. It’s an act of love that nourishes your soul. Wanting a break from parenting, work, and holiday whirl is justified, and you shouldn’t feel guilty. Don’t ever suppress your own needs. Your health is to a large extent controlled by the circulation of your blood. When your emotions are enthused by something you do, then it stands to reason that your heart is stimulated and that makes you feel alive and helps you enjoy a sunny disposition.
Here are some ideas that will shake up your old ways, create time, and allow you to remember your own well-being.
1. During the holiday season, get up earlier than everyone else in the house and sip that cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa, sit down with a crossword puzzle, look out the window and savor the time alone.
2. When your child takes a nap, instead of packing presents to mail to relatives, try some slow lunges or jump rope and do pushups for 30 seconds. Stand on your tippy-toes and stretch your entire body. It not only feels good, but it is great for your mind and body. Relax. You can pack the gifts later. Or take a cat-nap yourself!
3. Hand your child over to your husband, baby-sitter, friendly neighbor, or relative and take time out to take a walk around the block, wander leisurely through stores while shopping for yourself, take a bubble bath, take the dog for a nature walk, have a color analysis done on your hair, your make up done by an expert, go to a spa, get a massage, or any activity you fancy will make your heart dance and sing.
4. Create a one hour date time with your friends this month. Do whatever you all agree will be fun and enlivening.
5. Try having a “do-nothing day?in the middle of the holiday season. Watch movies, listen to soothing music, burn some fragrant smelling incense, prepare your favorite foods. And remember this is the day where there are no phone calls allowed, no shopping trips, no errands ran and absolutely no stress permitted. On this special day you can take a walk on the beach, sip fresh lemonade, blow bubbles in your yard, take a ride in the countryside, and gratefully and gently pamper yourself.
6. Treat yourself to nicely scented flowers. Purchase flowers with a deep, rich smell such as roses, carnations, lilacs, hyacinth and gardenias. Smell the fragrance of jasmine, lavender and marjoram. The bright colors and scent will bring you feelings of joy and create a good-mood flow.
7. Create an extra hour each day for yourself by going to bed later. Use this time to relax, write in your journal and meditate. This is the best time of all to really feel “me?time.
Life is a gift to be used every day,Not to be smothered and hidden away,It isn’t a thing to be stored in the chestWhere you gather your keepsakes and treasure your best;It isn’t a joy to be sipped now and thenAnd promptly put back in a dark place again.
Life is a gift that the humblest may boast ofAnd one that the humblest may well make the most of.Get out and live it each hour of the day,Wear it and use it as much as you may;Don’t keep it in niches and corners and grooves,You’ll find that in service its beauty improves.
Edgar A Guest
And remember, whatever you do in life, do it with love! Choose to make your family’s life and your life a journey packed with good thoughts, good feelings and good memories this holiday season. Happy Holidays Everyone!
Linda Milo, a.k.a., The Parent-Child Connection Coach, specializes in helping mothers and fathers turn their parenting challenges into a more livable, more workable, and more enjoyable family life. Linda’s experience in parent-child connection coaching brings not only well thought out strategies, including lots of humor, but also the understanding of how the majority of those who do become parents do so with little or no formal training.