Better Living

By Corinna Richards

Holiday Stress-Savers and Blues-Busters

Saving Yourself From Stress

Though we all look forward to the holidays coming round, they can be as stressful as moving into a house or having a job interview, particularly at the end of year and around the New Year holidays. Money, preparations and family expectations are top of the list of stress inducers at these times, but you don’t need to succumb to any of them. With careful thought and planning you can keep your holiday stress free and full of spirit. Here are a few tips to help you make it through:

bulletPlan in advance rather than leaving everything to the last minute. This way the event won’t seem so enormous and when it arrives and you can relax and enjoy it.
bulletKeep a list throughout the year and pick up gifts as you go along, then you won’t have to face the seasonal rush.
bulletExamine your expectations and check that they are realistic. Don’t expect too much of yourself in too short a time. Be flexible so that if something suddenly comes up, you can rearrange your tasks.
bulletVisit someone lonely this holiday to cheer them up; residential homes and shelters have plenty of people who don’t have family to share the season with.
bulletChange your usual routine; create new traditions of sharing time and gifts.
bulletTake care of your health during the holidays. Don’t over indulge or you’ll regret it later.
bulletTry to exercise regularly. Make it something you enjoy like a walk with pets or family, or use it to spend a little time alone.


Exercise regularly during the holidays!

Beating the Post-Holiday Blues

When the festivities are all over and it’s time to get back to work its sometime easy to fall prey to the ‘winter blues’. Remember, as you take down the decorations and pack them away you don’t have to put your holiday spirit away with them. There’s something about fairy lights that give a magical quality to the holidays, one that I have always been reluctant to put by until next season. One year I decided that instead of packing them all into a box and taking them up to the attic, I would made them a part of year round seasons.

By now I have found several creative and attractive ways to incorporate them into my living room. Last year I wound them around a tall pottery urn that stand in the corner filled with decorative twigs and grasses. This time I have them on the deck entwined around a large twisted peace of driftwood that I picked up from the river. Each lends an unusual touch and that magical glow to a dark evening.

Here are some other ideas to help you keep the spirit of sharing and caring throughout the year:

 
bulletSpend time with people. During the holidays we spend a lot of time with people we care about; try and spend more time put of season with friends and family. If they live at a distance then call, write or chat on the Internet regularly.
bulletProcess all of the photographs you took during the festive season and spend a few of the dark January nights making a holiday album.  Get copies made and make personal albums for family and friends.
bulletStart keeping a journal. Spend at least fifteen minutes each evening writing your thoughts, describing your day, or add sketches, clippings and things that have caught your attention during the day or recently. Looking back through it next year -  it will bring back pleasant memories, some of which you may otherwise have forgotten.

Remember that the holiday seasons come around before you know it, so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to plan for the next one.

Corinna Richards is a poet and freelance writer specializing in health and life issues. She is published in the UK, Canada and the USA. She is co-manager of Women in the Arts Network and editor of their quarterly electronic magazine Artrageous Women. Corinna lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.
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