Nothing is more joyous but can also produce more stress than this time of the year. As Christmas and the winter Holidays approaches, the pressure can rise as fast as our peppermint candy cane latte consumption levels. Luckily, we can turn all this frenzy into wonderful excitement and keep our sanity with just a few tweaks in our daily routine.
Johnny Mathis – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
I don’t know if it’s Mercury retrograde, the endless changing in weather or simply Holiday blues, but the past week has been pretty tough for me. Between shoots, trying to force myself to write more, updating my art & design portfolio (I’m preparing a new look), tying loose ends before the end of the year and overall starting a purge of everything old and heavy that’s keeping me stuck, I felt like I needed to retreat from the world for a few days.
It was such a great reminder to how easy it is to get overwhelmed, especially when you add: finding gifts for your loved ones, being hit with every bill under the Sun, thinking of new ways to grow your business and participating in meaningful projects, to the equation. And like me, I’m sure there are tons of you who are dealing with similar issues, that’s why I was thinking that hey… it might be a good thing to share over here about this.
Honestly I think it’s very important to remind yourself that it’s ok not to do it all!
Whether it means saying “no” to social obligations that you know will drain you or would rob you of time you could otherwise spend more meaningfully, productively or peacefully. Or simply choosing to let a project go because it’s not truly aligned with yourself. Or choosing what you give the most of your energy and focus to. It’s ok!
All my life I felt so guilty and ashamed every time I “dropped the ball” on something or wanted to try something different than what was expected of me, like it was a mini end of the world. Like I was so horrible for not being able to do it all. And honestly I wasn’t realizing how hurtful this was to myself. Sometimes I kept dragging the same things that were clearly misaligned and painful just because I was scared to disappoint (my family, friends, sometimes even acquaintances) or because I felt that if I did drop some things that weren’t working out, it would somehow translate into personal failure.
In the past two years I had to remind myself over and over that I’ve fought very hard for my dreams and to be where I am to let myself be swayed by external factors. And let me tell you something: nothing brings into focus areas of dissatisfaction or fulfillment more than the end of the year!
Since I lifted the excessive pressures from my life, I realized how liberating and inspiring things felt again. So every time I start to get burnout, I remind myself that it’s okay to not do it all and it’s fine to not be able to do it all by myself!
Some “me time” can do wonders!
When you’re in the middle of crazy-ville sometimes you just have to hit pause and getaway for an hour or two. My favorite ways to decompress when things start to become too much are: bubble baths, nature walks, reading a few pages of a book with a pet on my lap, watching my favorite vlogs and occasionally a glass of red or a vodka-cranberry (replaced by spiked eggnog during December haha ).
What I call “soul food” also works great! Winter Oreos anyone?
It’s seriously insane how big of a difference in your mood spending time outside or with your pet can have! I personally notice an immediate change.
Next time your family annoys you, be thankful you have one!
Listen, I know that family can be the biggest pain in the ass sometimes and I’m not saying some families out there in the world can’t be pretty shitty! BUT… chances are that even though you have disagreements from time to time and even though they’re not going to understand 100% what you’re about all the time, they still love you and want to see you do well.
It’s super easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget about your parents, relatives, many times even your significant other or kids, but don’t be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life! Time flies so fast and before you know it, you’ve missed out on important moments or spending time with people while they are here and in our lives.
There are tons of people who would KILL to have a family or to be closer to their own, so appreciate yours every second you have. Put your differences aside for a few days, be a bit more caring, attentive and actually be present with them instead of distracted with other things – after all that’s what Christmas is all about!
Put some Christmas Music on
I understand it can become a little bit too much to listen to Holiday music non-stop, but part of the magic of the season is hearing cheerful music everywhere.
Music can totally lift your spirits and put a smile on your face even through the most depressing times. It’s not about pretending you like it and you’re happy, but if you can genuinely crack a smile even for a few seconds, it’s still better than nothing!
So let’s jingle all the way
Thank you so much for reading! Hope you’re happy and excited for the Holidays and you get to spend them with the people (or pets) who matter the most to you! As always, much love
