Happy Christmas, or not?
Every thing I see this time of year seems to encourage an excess of what is generally considered unhealthy the rest of the year! Food, alcohol, spending and debt. Spending time with people you do not generally feel comfortable with and running yourself into the ground with endless lists and expectations. All the advertisements I see seem to tell me that this will be the best Christmas ever, some how implying that last Christmas simply was not good enough: and maybe that is the take away message, you and your Christmas will not be good enough.
I am also, always acutely aware that the general workload is raised to warp speed 10 at this time of year. Shopping, cleaning, cooking, preparing, diarising, managing, driving, messaging. As a therapist it makes little sense to me that the healthy self care habits I have been working on with my clients all year are not only pushed to one side over the holiday period but it seems actively discouraged. So what is the answer?
As with every thing I would say, balance. If something matters to you then it should matter at all times of the year. It is also worth paying attention to ages and stages, what was fun in your 20's may no longer be appealing in your 50's. We are not in competition with other people, with advertising or with a younger version of ourselves. If we can tune in to what genuinely feels good and is nourishing to us and try and do more of that, whatever the time of year, then Christmas may stop feeling so overwhelming for so many .
I am not for a second suggesting that people do not let their hair down, splurge a little and have some fun, I am simply wondering if we could begin to question what is fun to us now, at this stage of our lives. The goal is to meet our needs and allow some of our wants. As a wise colleague once said to me 'we should endeavour to live today in a way which will not cause us a problem tomorrow'
That said, I wish you all a happy holiday whatever you are doing and hopefully a smooth and restful transition into 2025
Love from everyone at YRCS
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