Research shows that Christmas is one of the top 6 most stressful life events, up there with divorce and moving to a new house.
This year we were planning to rent out our house from the 26th December. I knew it was going to be chaotic; we have a big Christmas Day planned and we had to prepare the house for guests as well as pack up to travel ourselves on the 26th. So, this year I decided to not put the tree up. It was going to be another thing on my long list of things to do before we went away.
Usually, for Christmas day, we do a big sit-down Christmas lunch, with turkey, napkins, place names and Christmas games. To take the pressure off, we changed to a barbecue. I knew we needed to adapt to make space for all the extra things we had to do. We needed to take the pressure off or I knew we would be leaving for our holidays feeling frazzled.
So, we pulled everything back to the basics. That way, if there is time and energy for the added extras, they are a bonus, not an expectation. More often than not, the expectation comes from me, not from anyone else. I find it is really up to me to take the pressure off myself. To give myself permission to step it all down to support myself.
Question:
What can you let go of this Christmas to help support yourself? If you feel comfortable to, let me know in the comments.
Jen xx
