Holiday Stress

The holidays bring with them joy, celebration and connection. They also bring their own brand of stress.
Some stresses that are common during the holidays

• Travel
• Entertaining
• House guests
• Grief over lost loved ones

 
I know in my house, I host Thanksgiving, which I love - well, I love the cooking and food preparation part. I also love selecting the fragrances of candles which I will burn and which decorative holders to display. I don't love the cleaning, neither my husband nor I do. We procrastinate and procrastinate and always end up running around like crazy at the last minute trying to make the house look as presentable as possible. Lucky for us, we're not keeping house guests, so we don't have that to add.

My sister generally travels for the holidays, she'll be coming home for Christmas, not Thanksgiving this year, but I know for her, that is extremely stressful.

And for our family, as well as many others, the holidays are a time when we fondly remember past family gatherings and miss those family members who are no longer with us. For some this stress is greater than others. My Aunt lost her husband and both her parents within a year, and the holidays are particularly acute for her.

So, while you are dressing your home, preparing to travel or perhaps readying yourself to attend a holiday meal with some family members who rub you the wrong way, be sure to take some time out to take a bit of care of yourself to maintain your sanity. 

 

Take a nap, take a bath, put on your headphones and listen to some great music, throw a great comedy into the DVD player, just do something that makes you feel good, and do it often.