The holidays and you - how to have a great season
The holidays can feel like one of the best times of the year…
…but it can also be a tough time of year depending on your family situation and dynamic, winter blues, and even your financial situation.
No matter how you feel about the holiday season, here are some tips for staying positive:
Focus on the things that you love
Often the holidays are a busy time of year, and there can be a lot of pressure to do everything.
Be sure to take some time for yourself and the things about the season that you love!
Be sure to make time for those activities you love the most about the holidays. Plan holiday events at home or find events near where you live.
Also, if there are things that you love, but don’t want to do by yourself, invite friends!
Have grace for your family
Often, family and friends can make the holidays unpleasant with prying questions or unthoughtful comments.
Though it’s easy to dread frustrating family, try to have grace for them and think from their perspective.
Those family members often don’t realize how they are coming across when they ask you, for example, about your relationship status.
It’s perfectly normal to be frustrated with them, but their questions often come from a place of love and aren’t meant to offend.
If you find yourself alone
The holiday season can be the loneliest time of the year.
If you find yourself in this position, one action you can take to combat these feelings is to reach out!
If your family isn’t available, ask friends if you can spend the holidays with them, or make a friends’ holiday event, a friends-mas, for example.
It can feel weird or awkward, inviting oneself to another’s holiday celebration. Still, true friends will appreciate you reaching out, even if they can’t help.
Take time to re-evaluate
Take time this holiday season to start thinking about the new year around the corner.
As humans, we thrive in the day-week-month-year context in which we have a beginning and an end.
We need space to think about the previous time frame, evaluate what worked and what didn’t, who we were and who we would like to be.
Take time to talk with friends about what you want next year to look like. And take time to be alone and decide what you want the next year to be for you.
Ready to learn more?