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Surviving the Holidays!
Last night was supposed to be "romantic date night" with my significant other. I say supposed to because a large part of our night was spent talking about everything we have to cram into the next 2 1/2 weeks. He has work parties, I have shopping and friend parties, and we have more family gatherings than we can count! Not such a romantic conversation. haha. We both became overwhelmed as we were listing all of our "To Do's." Finally we stopped and said -we are going to enjoy this beautiful time of year and not stress - How? For both of us our recharge time is quiet time at home together. So as we looked at our calendars, the only time we don't have a time is this Friday. We decided we would cook at home and just be. No chores, no emails, no work. Dinner, dancing in the kitchen, and time together. How do you survive the busy holiday season?
In my opinion, one of the biggest ironies of the holiday season is how stressful it is. It may help to do occasional self-checks and ask yourself "am I doing this activity because I have to for the holidays or am I doing this because it will genuinely bring me joy?" Say "no" where you can. While there are certain holiday obligations you may not be able to escape (holiday parties, secret santas, etc.), try to balance that with activities that recharge you. A low-key dinner and dancing in the kitchen sounds ideal!!
Don't get lost in what society tells you that you need to do, and instead try and embrace the holidays in whatever way makes sense and recharges you. In other words, make your own memories and be a bit selfish. :)
Check out this piece! Maybe pick a few things to fight the overwhelm. https://medium.com/wake-up-call/how-to-fix-the-holiday-work-imbalance-2e5ae60a5095