Have you ever felt anxious about Christmas approaching? Have you ever dreaded the chaos which accompanies the festive season? Do you ever get overwhelmed by the thought of Christmas coming?
I have, and I seem to every single year. It's something about knowing that whilst we are meant to be having a "break", this season is chock-a-block with parties, dinners, lunches, etc. There seems to be something on almost every day in December and it always just stresses me out thinking about all the time that I am not going to have to fill up my own cup and relax. As someone who is an introvert, I really enjoy having time to myself and often need it to recharge. The thought of having no time for me, no time to just relax and no time to do nothing makes me very anxious. This is why I think its so crucial to talk about this. I don't feel that it's spoken about enough. There is an invisible stress which comes with the Festive Season, and it an be super overwhelming if not managed in a healthy way.
The festive season brings with it a special kind of chaos and demand of you and your time. It is important to remember that even during this busy period, we need to show up for ourselves. This will look different for different people. I feel like taking time for ourselves around the Festive Season is not something that is talked about enough. Each person will have their own stresses around Christmas, and so there's no one solution or idea that will be perfect for each of those unique situations.
I feel like it's super easy to get drawn into what others want from us and what we think we "should" do during the festive season, but it's super important to remember that these "shoulds" and wants of others are not allowing us to show up for ourselves. When we fail to show up for ourselves, we are subconsciously telling ourselves that we are not worthy of showing up for. It is important that as we learn to show up for ourselves we understand the behaviour that we do which undermines our endeavours.
I know personally, this year I am taking a few extra days of leave so that I can really wind down and relax before the new work year kicks off. I know that I have a lot planned for 2023 and so I want to make sure I give myself time to relax and enjoy my time off before get stuck back into things again. I have also been practising saying NO to things that don't align with me and how I am feeling. I have found this to be very powerful because it has meant that I have been really tuning into how I am feeling and honouring what actually matters to me.
It is a big goal of mine for 2023 to focus on listening to my intuition and strengthen this muscle within me.
Some strategies that I have found helpful are:
- Scheduling days where you have nothing planned.
- Taking extra days of annual leave around Christmas and New Year.
- Take the pressure of yourself about everything needing to be perfect.
- Block out time for you to fill up your own cup.
- Don't be afraid to say "no" to things that don't align with you.
The last thing that I want is to be so utterly exhausted at the end of the Christmas/New Year period that I feel like I need another break before the year officially begins. I am very passionate about educating others on the importance of showing up for yourself at this time of year.
Another thing which is important to note is that a lot of the time, the expectations and "shoulds" that we try to conform to are put upon us by ourselves. We have the power to decide the stresses and beliefs that we are going to buy into. It's important to take an active role in the beliefs that you subscribe to so that you don't fall prey to things that overwhelm and overburden you.
I hope that you have found this somewhat helpful for you this festive season. And, if you have any other strategies or tips that you have found helpful for decreasing stressing around the festive season, I'd love to hear them.
Take care of yourself beautiful.
Jordy xx