Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Holidays! This is a great time of year, right? You feel good about it….no stress, no worry, all joy, right? Okay, I get it. The holidays are a lot of fun: family, friends, food, gifts, parties, etc. The other side of the coin is that all those same things can lead to stress, too. The fact is the holidays tend to be a tight rope walk between happiness and being overwhelmed. With that in mind, I give you my…not holiday survival guide, but a holiday thrive guide. Follow these tips and you may find your holidays are less stress and more joy, after all.
1) A little goes a long way: as far as food goes, don’t deprive yourself. If you’re surrounded by treats that you want and you completely abstain, generally many people will eventually go nuts and eat more than they would have originally. Simply choose a treat that you want, have one and enjoy it, then be done. Along with this, it’s important to abandon the “all or nothing” attitude that people take with food during the holidays. Meaning, if you eat poorly at one meal, or too much at Thanksgiving, you don’t need to throw in the towel and go nuts till Christmas. One meal is one meal, one treat is one treat. If you make a poor choice, regroup and do better on the next choice.
2) Say Y-E-S to N-O, aka the power of no: during the holidays you will be pulled in many directions and we all want to do as much as we can and we want to make everyone happy. This will not always work well for you though. As you’re baking 5 dozen cookies for the bake sell, sending out 100 cards, and running errands all over the world, you may breakdown mentally and physically. So many people I meet in our offices, are not even excited for the holidays, because they just see work and fatigue on the horizon. Seriously, add the word “no” to your vocabulary. We don’t always like to use this word, but plan to do what you can with each day and anything that exceeds that….”no”. Examples: can you host the holiday party tomorrow night, should we go over our gift budget to get the new, shiny toy, or should I have a fourth holiday cookie….no, no, and no. It actually feels empowering!
3) Give, to get: one of the sad truths of out world is that many people don’t have enough. Enough food, enough warm clothes, and enough money to survive. It’s easy when you live in the United States to fail to see the need all around you, but it absolutely there. If you are a person blessed to fall on the “has enough” side of the coin, I cannot encourage you strongly enough to share. The people that need the help will appreciate it, but it will also be good for you. Giving improves your mental health. If you want to have a happy holiday season, give whatever you can. Whether you can spare a little or a lot, it doesn’t matter. Give what you you’re able, you won’t regret it. Speaking of regrets….
4) It’s not about the money: this is simple, don’t let pressure force you to spend more than you should or want. I promise, if money is tight, your child can do without the $500 electronic device. Set a budget, stay with the budget, and if stuff goes beyond the budget it doesn’t need to be bought. It’s no fun to hide from the credit card bills in January and February. The holidays are not about stuff. Deep down you know this. Don’t let advertising fool you.
5) Take care of yourself: listen, no matter how busy you get, don’t stop tending to your health. I know it’s the first thing we set aside, in the name of “too busy”, but this is crazy. If your health fails, everything else will too. So sleep. Seriously. Drink enough water. Exercise every day. Keep your priorities right. Most of all, get adjusted. You have to keep all systems humming as you push through the holidays. That’s where chiropractic comes in.
Remember that the holidays are not about the “things”, the “to do” lists, or stressing about getting everything done, but family, friends, and faith. All of us from Crossroads Chiropractic wish you a happy, healthy holiday season. Take of yourself and take care of others and the rest will follow!
In Health,
Dr. Graham