Gains Vs Losses: How to enjoy the Holidays!
As the holidays approach, we are once again flooded with images and ideals of what we ought to experience. Happy, smiling families, sitting around a bountiful dinner table has become the idealized version of what we all want, or desire, at this time of year. Unfortunately those ideals of what the holiday compels to represent, leave many people out in the cold. In reality, apart from the experiences of some children, the actual experiences of Christmas almost always fall short of our glorified rendition.
Family time
Many of us dread being forced to spend time with family members that we would rather have nothing to do with. For others, family live too far away and cannot afford to travel to see them. For those who have lost family or loved ones, spending the first Christmas without them will be especially difficult. FAMILY is not always blood. But a person you care about and that person loves you for who you are.
Family relationships are a basic aspect of our lives, the family is given to us and we cannot choose it. For many they are a problem and are a source of conflict, for others a source of great happiness. In any case, we cannot deny that they all affect us. To get healthy family relationships and enjoy the holidays among them here are some tips.
“Try something different - Surrender!” Rumi
Control your expectations or you’ll lose your nerves. Don’t make previous plan how would the weekend evolve. What will you be doing every minute of every hour. Leave it to the surprise. A lot of members brings a lot of ideas. Maybe someone has more creative idea than you. Accept it! Have fun!
With big family comes a big baggage. Talk about it. What about everybody around the fire, telling stories, connecting the past with the future. Resolving old misunderstandings through games. Putting everybody in others' shoes.
Just don’t give up.
Enter the holiday journey with joy and enthusiasm among your closest. Have positive attitude and give the best version of yourself.
Emotional weight
First, don’t pretend that everything is fine. It is not fine! Talk about it.
Everybody's smile around the holidays is very wide and bright, but underneath that smile there is always some emotional baggage. And the only question is when that suitcase is going to explode? Can you control that zipper and diminish your baggage?
The holidays bring out the best and the worst in us. It’s not an argument that holidays wake up the child in every one of us. Secretly wishing Santa was real, while envying his workshop helpers. Trying to have every list under control but carried away by the spirit of the holiday around you is a real struggle. So try to balance the anxiety with putting some joy in the engagements.
If you have lost someone and this is your first Christmas without them, it is okay to want to spend time alone and grieve. It is just as okay to want to not be alone and wish to be around others. Just try to figure out what you want by yourself and be open about it with your closest.
While caring about fulfilling everybody’s wishes and the struggle everything to be perfect, stop and remember about yourself. Self-care is very important. Give yourself a long bath after shopping, or make your nails after all the cooking.But if it’s too big of a struggle to focus on yourself, a suggestion for you to feel good and fulfilled is volunteering to help the less fortunate.
Time for delicious food
It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas! You start your preparation in the kitchen days ago and taste it for insurance. Nothing better than your whole family on a full table. Eating,drinking, laughing and talking. There is a very pleasant feeling watching everybody enjoying everything you input so much time and love preparing.
Every alley, every home has that sweet smell at Christmas. Every country has a tradition for it self. But not a bit tastier from the other. Gatherings or nights out, so much taste in your mouth, but that cal are compiling. Can your pants still button up?
How about something healthy? For example instead of something fried make something baked. Insert some salad.
A little less drinks is better for the holiday shape and also for the memories. It’s better to remember the funny nights out and hang outs.
You can share that slice of cake or eat less. Still enjoy every bite!
Gifts ideas
“It not what’s under the Christma tree that matters, it’s who's around it!”
You give and receive. A lot of money are on the stand. How about adjusting the budget in your range. You don’t need to spend a great amount just to show off. You won’t be the bigger person if you give big presents. Listen to their wishes. Understand their needs.
Sometimes all that they need is you to wrap them in a hug. You are their biggest present.
Rapture in all the planning we tend to lose track of time.Give yourself the gift to be present. You deserve that much.
While shopping and spending money like crazy, we tend to forget the real value of the holidays. Then you reunite and remember why you haven’t heard from each other for months. Blaming each other for something but forgot the real reason. Just bearing one a grudge. How about using the gift of forgiveness.
Forgot someones present? I bet you are gifted, show your talents, make something from nothing. Use your imagination. Or ask your kid.
Leave the stockings, fill your and your closest hearts with love and happiness.
Vacation to go
Weather the winter vacations can be very expensive they are also very fun fulfilling. You need a lot of warm clothes and you want a new coat so for all those things you need a new suitcase. This period of year the airplane tickets are expensive, with bus is cheaper but it takes longer. How much time do you have?
It’s not where you are, but with who you spend your free time with. It’s not what you wear as long as your heart is warm. Among all that baggage don’t forget to pack your big smile, best attitude and a bottle of champagne. There is always a reason to celebrate no matter the surrounding you're in.
While travelling, don't think about the things you left behind. The flowers will survive. The neighbor will miss you for the coffee time but your next reunion will be filled with new experiences and topics to talk about.
Your work will wait for you, maybe you’ll have more that you expected. But you’ll start again with more energy. Freed from negative energy. Opened for new creative ideas.
So set yourself free. Stand up from your computer and phone. Exit your house and take a vacation. Expand your mind with new experiences. No boarders, no computer, no wi-fi, no stress. Guilt free for taking time for yourself. Just breath.
REMEMBER:
*Happiness is nothing more than good and a bad memory. Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account. So relax and remember to breathe.
*Go where your heart tells you.
*Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. Just don’t give up on them.
*Laugh as much as much as you breathe. And love as long as you live.
*Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. But don’t forget to share your delicious food. And eat vegetables in between the meals. Because an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
*Everybody needs an inspiration. Be the one this holiday. Challenge everybody to smile and have a good time.