There is just too much on our plates, every day at this time of year. Thus the stress.
Then the procrastination comes in...organization turns in to chaos. The "to-do" list gets longer and longer, and then tossed under some papers somewhere, and the thread of what needs to be taken care of is all but lost.
Back to stress. All of the details of all we have to do is jumbled up in our brains, and we KNOW there is a list somewhere, but the energetic gets more pulled into the body. Ah.
So what to do? Time to LET GO. What? Yes, let go of the pressure, let things be for awhile. This picture is a selfie (can you believe that I admitting this??) in a dressing room when I "should" have been buying presents. After all, I am leaving for Florida in a few days, and I still have a bunch of clients to see...the cards are sitting on my coffee table, and I am out trying on Versace dresses! This one is really cool; it actually has swans and peacock feathers on it, but my amateur selfie capacities are a little underwhelming. That was yesterday. Today I am back thinking about what to do and what to let go of.
And you know what the most important thing to do is? You guessed it...BREATHE! Breathe through everything. This is my one self care tool that I use most of the time now. I had to learn this skill the hard way; by not remembering to breathe through life. Decades of stressing and not breathing, has led me to knowing beyond any doubt, that nothing is worth all that if I am not bringing myself present to my tasks.
This brings back the ease. The fun. The freedom...it's my life. I can design it any way I want! (And no, I didn't buy the dress...couldn't rationalize the $331.00 ticket price when I have all the Hanukah and Xmas presents to buy).. . maybe it will still be there in January!
So, as you enter full swing into the holidays, I hope you can remember this little self care powerhouse. Breathe through it!
Breathe when the family challenges start getting the best of you. Breathe while you write your lists of priorities. Then breathe when you re-examine your list and decide for yourself what is really important, and what is mere obligation.
Then have real fun over the holidays! Hug a tree, get dancing', play with your children. Let the world in. And forget the other things, you know the "obligations". Because YOU get to define what you should and should not do over the holidays. After all, isn't it about appreciation and joy?
Then when you are in the "doing" of it all, you can still bring your full presence, awareness, and breath to the tasks!
Lots of love,
Diane