holidays

How To Handle Stress Around The Holidays

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The holidays can bring feelings of stress and overwhelm to the surface. 

It’s no secret that the holidays are a busy time for many, especially when juggling holiday shopping, family plans, and personal feelings.

But to navigate through this season, you can remind yourself of what matters most. Here are some ways we can de-stress and slow down. 

Prioritize Your Needs

You may be rushing to complete a long list of things on our holiday to-do list. But the key to balancing your list and your well-being is to prioritize. 

If you feel too much is on your plate, you can cut down on tasks. You don’t have to put pressure on yourself if it takes away from your needs. 

It’s a good time to ask a loved one for help or adjust your expectations if you are doing too much. 

Share Tasks With Others

As much as you may want to plan and execute your ideas for the holidays, you don’t have to do it alone. 

Sharing in the load of the holiday errands can make it easier on you in the long run. It’s also a great opportunity to connect with loved ones and spend more time together. 

You can lean on those around you if you need help

Shift Perspective

It can help us think about what we have on stressful days leading up to the holidays. 

Practicing gratitude during the holidays can put things into perspective. 

It can be a grounding reminder for when you need it most. 

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Accepting Cancelled Holiday Gatherings

Life is unpredictable, and there are so many events and situations we can’t control.

The good news is, we can control how we react to those events and how we look at them.

You Can’t Force Feelings

Even though we can try and change our mindset and attitude, we can’t actually prevent feelings or turn them off in the blink of an eye.

“You feel how you feel, and your feelings are real.” – Sven

It’s one thing to try to challenge negative emotions.

But it’s quite another to ignore them and pretend they don’t exist.

If you’ve been feeling sad or disappointed over not being able to spend the holidays with loved ones in person, that is completely okay. 

Never be ashamed of how you feel. We all experience negative emotions and it’s completely normal. 

Acceptance + Compassion

We get it. Accepting a negative event isn’t always easy, but it is possible.

Practicing self-compassion may not be able to eliminate pain, but it can build resilience and boost optimism.

Looking For The Silver Lining

Several studies show that it can be beneficial to look for silver linings during difficult situations. 

Here are a few silver linings of having small a Christmas this year…

1) You won’t have to spend hours on end cooking and cleaning.

2) You can spend quality one on one time with your immediate family. 

3) You can create new traditions.

Final Thoughts

As we stated earlier, there are plenty of things in life we can’t change. But we can change the stories we tell ourselves and look at things differently.

From our family to yours, we’d like to wish you all a very Happy Holidays!

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how to foster generosity this holiday season

Emphasize the giving, and the thanks will follow: how to foster generosity this holiday season

For many of us, Thanksgiving is a time for family, reflection and giving thanks. However, emerging research suggests that the spirit of giving—helping others, being thoughtful, practicing generosity—can generate a sense of gratitude that spans beyond a single day of gratefulness. That’s because gratitude and generosity are part of a cycle that we may be able to harness in order to create a kinder, more generous society.

Here are three ways to help the generosity flow this holiday season and beyond:

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