Healthy+Happy Holiday Survival Guide: Part III
Making the Most of What You've Got
With Christmas coming in a matter of days, there comes a point where you realize that you can only give what you’ve got.
It’s unlikely that your family will suddenly lose all signs of dysfunction.
Your house will likely have areas that you don’t want the relatives to see.
Your kids will probably be a little ungrateful after the presents are opened Christmas morning.
You might even burn the Christmas dinner…
It’s ok.
There are things in our lives and our relationships that we can’t fully control. We can’t control how those around us behave or respond to stressful situations. But we can control how we respond…and we can even do so preemptively! We can choose to not take offense to a rude relative’s comment about our dusty baseboards. We can choose to have patience with our loud, totally-missing-the-point-of-Christmas children. We can choose to practice self-compassion.
At the end of the day, there was only one truly perfect person to ever live on Earth…and it’s His birthday we celebrate on Christmas day. He pardons us for our imperfections and we must do the same for ourselves and those around us.
My final tips for ‘surviving’ this holiday season are simple:
Merry Christmas!
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Denim L. Slade, PhD
P.S. If you’re just joining us now, you can find Part I and Part II by clicking on the link below:
https://denimslade.com/resources/