[ ACWDYG ] How to Stay Positive During the Holidays

December 20, 2006

This is from another group that is excellent on yahoogroups called ACWDYG -- A

Change Will Do Yourself Good -- check it out! PJ

How to Stay Positive During the Holidays

Whatever holiday is on your calendar in December - Christmas,

Hanukkah, Kwanzaa - it is sometimes is a challenge to stay positive

in the midst of the commercialism and general hub-bub. Here are a

few ways to stay positive during the holidays:

Avoid overscheduling yourself. Use an agenda to keep track of your

holiday commitments so that you can physically see what you are

committing yourself to. Along with your commitments to others make

sure to include some downtime for yourself - even if it is half an

hour here and there. Knowing that you have some personal time will

help you to stay positive.

Lower your expectations don't strive for perfection, good enough is

okay.Don't expect your family to be perfect during the holidays. Be

realistic about who they are and what your relationship is like with

them all year around. That is especially true of step-families.

Make a budget and stick to it. The price of the gift is not equal to

how much you love them. Focus on the people that you care about

instead of the stuff that really doesn't matter. Beware of the joy-

to-stuff ratio: more stuff does not equal more joy.

Spread your socializing in the months after the holidays. Don't try

to pack a year's worth of socializing into a few weeks. Start a new

tradition with friends and make a date with friends for mid January

or early February.

Get as much sleep as you can. Schedule one or two pyjama days for

yourself or for the whole family - stay in your pj's and stay home

and give yourself permission to rest and enjoy some time together

without rushing about.

A positive thinking, positive affirmations support group, that discusses ways to

cope with the stresses of daily life. Come aboard! PJ and Gang

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