As much as I would like to hang on to spooky season (I just heard and delighted in the Ghostbusters song this weekend on the radio), the holiday season is underway.
This time of year can hit differently depending on your relationship to holidays: perhaps they bring a flood of joy; or perhaps trepidation; or maybe even sadness.
Which means this time of year needs our attention and care when it comes to navigating how to spend our time in a way that honors what we want.
Here are the top three things to do to care for yourself and make the most of this time of year:
Decide what you want, first, before committing. It can be easy to simply accept invites to things – holiday gatherings, work events, local activities, conversations with neighbors on the street…when you don’t know what you want, everything can look like a great possibility…until your schedule is so packed you can’t breathe. Decide first what you want from this season, and then check any possibility against that before accepting.
It’s OK to step away, or even to say no. Emotions run high during holidays. There are so many expectations built into various events and gatherings and they’re rarely the same between individuals, so it can easily lead to combustion. If you find yourself in a space where things are heating up, you can always just excuse yourself and step away. You can always come back after stepping away; it can be hard to come back after saying or doing something you don’t mean. And sometimes, it’s better to decline in the first place.
Make space to rest. Even if you thrive in a full schedule, build in time to rest (whatever that means to you) so you can continue to be your fullest, best self, and enjoy this time of year in exactly the way you want.
May this time of year be exactly what you are hoping for, whatever that is…
