It is so easy to get swept up in the spending, the drinks, the food. Have you paused to contemplate what you would like for this holiday season?
Right now, take a moment and make a list of what YOU would like to experience during these holidays.
If you write ‘rest’, expand on that. What does ‘rest’ look like for you? Are you lying in bed reading a book or are you walking in the park? If you write connection with friends and family, get specific, which friends and which family? Given the current environment, who is it possible for you to connect with and how can you safely connect?
If you could have a holiday season and everyone in the family get their needs met, what might that look like? As a family, you could have a family holiday list. You could ask each person to add three things they would really like to experience over the holidays to the list.
Put this list somewhere you can all see it and keep referring to it and crossing things off as they have been experienced. Something like this can get the whole family engaged in actively thinking about and meeting each other’s needs. It can be very bonding and satisfying as you all cross off one thing after another. It also gives the family a sense of being able to achieve goals as a group, that the group can meet the individual’s needs, even if members of the group appear to have competing needs.
For example, one member wants to do lots of entertaining, and another member wants to have lots of alone time. As people come over, the need for connection is met, and when they leave, there is time for each member to rest, and the need for alone time can be met.
Let me know how it goes!
