When did the holidays turn into a source of stress instead of joy? I'm guessing it happened when we were cutting back on staff at work so that investors and the company could make more money. A lot of us had our work loads doubled or tripled. Then there was equal pay for equal work (even though that hasn't quite happened for a lot of women). So it was worthwhile financially for women to work. The thing was, they still had their full time home care and child care jobs. Sometimes husbands helped out - some more than others - and sometimes they didn't. In addition, extended family may live far away. But with jobs, home care and child care all together, the extra work of the holidays sometimes fell on only one or two people - thus the stress instead of joy.
So, what to do about that? What has worked for me is to make a list of the things I love the most about each holiday and ask the people who celebrate with me for their favorites. Then I do only those things. I am judicious about what invitations I accept. Parties are wonderful but trying to go to everything I'm invited to often doesn't work out. Of course, lots of people start really early getting ready for holidays. That really works when I do it because I can divide the extra work into tiny little bits that are easy to fit in to my daily life and because they are so small can be enjoyed. Another stress buster is to stop looking at commercials and ads for ideas for gifts. Using love as guidance for gift giving makes it easier and more fun.
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