In this season of busyness it is so important to keep our sense of peace. For some it is just the busy-ness of work parties, recitals, children’s Christmas events and school plays while for others it is the pain or trauma of losses felt keenly at this time of year. Others dread the family gatherings and the stress of strained relationships which take a toll. For some the loneliness and financial burdens of the holiday spending are overwhelming.
What are you doing to keep yourself at peace and let go of the tensions that tie knots in your stomach and keep you up at night? Here are some easy tips to help you cope and keep your joy and peace.
- Check out the Belief System Elimination technique on my website and allow yourself to say NO without the stress. Try phrases like, “I have to go if I am invited,” “I say no with ease and grace”, “It’s OK to say no without an excuse”, “I can’t disappoint people by saying no”. Use whatever tapes or guilt trips you have in your thinking. Positive statements and beliefs can also be stressful so try those too, but heed the warning: no more than 2 or 3 in a day. You can set your brain into overdrive rewiring those thoughts and you might spend a day in bed if you are not careful.
- Make a plan for what you want to go to–make purposeful choices and practice your new NO skills. Plan for days that are quiet at home or away to restore and refresh interspersed with busy days. Don’t book yourself solid. Plan for some physical outdoors events too. If you are having a party, shake it up and make it an activity instead of food and hanging out. Even plan a walk after dinner and let others know to bring walking boots and warm clothes.
- Decide in advance that it is OK to buy cookies instead of making them all. Same goes for hors d’oeuvres. Simplify the food. No one needs the quantities of sweet and starchy desserts that have become common place. Create new traditions with healthier fruit and veggie snacks and desserts. Same goes for alcohol and drinks. Provide flavoured veggie waters like cucumber and lemon. Make a hot spicy apple cider without the alcohol for the last few rounds of the night.
- Make time for yourself every day. Even if it is just 15 minutes do one of the stress relieving exercises from the Reduce Your Stress section of Pushing the Reset Button. Try out the breathing exercises, the visualizations, or the Meridian Tracing. Just 15 minutes a day will make a big difference to your overall stress levels.
- Remember no one makes you angry or sad, or happy or joyful. You make your own emotions. Others may pull strings and push buttons or create environments where you have a conditioned reaction, but it is your choice to respond however you please. You can walk away, say no, laugh at them, do your own thing…. Doing what they want you to do is giving your power away. It does take two to argue so keep your mouth shut and smile. Better to be taken for a fool for not speaking than to open your mouth and prove them right. Of course when you are tired, hungry, drunk, or over-committed, you are pushing your own stress buttons and are more likely to explode over something small. Take care of yourself and it will be easier to ignore the turkeys.
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