Personally, I love the holidays. I love the energy and the decorations and even hearing the same 30 familiar songs over and over. I love getting together with family. I love the holiday outfits, the holiday activities and yep, even the holiday shopping!
You don't have to talk to too many people however to realize that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this magical time of year. In fact, most people I talk to say that the holidays are hectic, harried and for those who are truly disenchanted, horrific.
Fear not friends, I'm here to help. Below are a few ideas on how to put the happy back in your holidays.
1) Own your holiday experience! Close your eyes and picture the holidays as you would like them to be. Chances are, you'll be thinking about some special memories from holidays past...and likely they won't have anything to do with gifts or amazing holiday recipes. Choose and write down a few (just a few) things that would make the holidays feel like they 'should'. Now put yourself in that mind space. Now live there for the next 6 weeks. Spend time on the things that make you happy...the things that will give you that warm fuzzy feeling you just thought about. Let the other things go...seriously...I promise you won't miss them. There is no right or wrong way to celebrate.
2) Take back your holiday calendar. Go get your calendar...right now...I'll wait. Okay, now write down all of the commitments you know of at this point through the end of the year. Look at the month of December...does it have enough white space? Think about the things that you really want to do...is there time left for them? Pick days/times and schedule them, even if it is baking cookies with your kids, catching up with a friend for coffee, etc. If you don't have your own priorities on the calendar, it's easy to push them off (and usually never get to them), when another invitation pops up.
3) Separate Buying from Shopping. For many people, the gift buying is what spoils their holiday time. Not that they don't want to give, it's the buying itself (the crowds, the rush, the pressure). If this is you, do the majority of your shopping online and then make a few special trips to the store for the last few items. You will enjoy the shopping experience so much more when you aren't rushing from store to store buying in mass. Take in the people, the sites, the sounds, the smells. If you aren't enjoying it, go home and order the rest online.
Happy Holidays!
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