FIND JOY IN THE LITTLE THINGS THIS SEASON
HOLIDAY SURVIVAL Mind and Body!*🎄🤩🥳
Maintaining Your Sanity
FINDING JOY IN THE LITTLE THINGS!
No matter who you are or your reasoning, finding joy in the holidays is possible and can renew you going into the new year. There’s always So much to do, that many times we fail to find ourselves truly living in the joy of the season or in joy at all.
The holidays always seem to bring about a certain melancholy and nostalgia.
You can feel emotional exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.
Here are a few ways to find joyful things right there in front of you!
Unplug
There are so many reasons to unplug from technology during the holidays. First, remember that most people typically share the highlights of their day. So when you have the opportunity to sit down at a Thanksgiving feast or Enjoy Christmas as a family, put the phones away.
THEN… enjoy the moment. If you take a picture of everything, and post or print out 30 pictures of someone unwrapping a gift where all you see is the wrapping paper and they don’t know what’s inside yet – what are you missing out on by just watching their faces!?
Take time to cherish the moment and create a REAL memory. Those are even more cherished than a photograph. ❤️❤️
I read once that the cell phone/texting and everything that goes with it, was the downfall of the human vocabulary because it took our creativity in language away.
Think about the stories your grandparents tell every year, or used to tell you a hundred times growing up at the holidays, and how vivid the memories were versus a still picture that has no personality. Seriously, I am not saying don’t take any pictures; just remember to take time to live in some of the moments, rather than relive it for the first time in a picture.
Being Joyful doesn’t have to mean being happy in every circumstance
It is SO very possible to find joy; that deep emotion that stirs inside of your heart and soul, even when you outwardly are not at your happiest. REMEMBER, that’s OK!!
You can revel in the moments that you will never forget and you can focus on the things that are going well.
Over the holidays we can find joy by focusing on the time that our children get to spend with extended family and if you aren’t feeling your best, maybe you can live through THEIR happiness in the moment.
The hardest days are sometimes the best reminders of what we have. Our focus should also be on what we have rather than dwelling on the negative always.
Remember that you do not have to be perfect nor does the occasion
The best stories are the ones where the whole family got sick on Christmas day and the tissues were everywhere. Or where the turkey caught fire at Thanksgiving. Or someone brought a Jello mold that was a messy meltdown. There is truly no perfection in those moments, but the memories and the stories are what make them joyous.
There can be so much anxiety in trying to make everything “just right” when it’s completely unnecessary and no one will notice or even care. We all live imperfect lives and our joy is not derived from a perfect-looking pie, but in reality, from that moment when the ugly pie gets the “best tasting” seal of approval.
Get Moving & Avoid Unhealthy Food
And speaking of pie…not only are we likely to put on weight from unhealthy food choices during the holidays, but, in fact, consuming too much sugar and processed food negatively affects our mood and energy. There is a chemical reaction in our brains and bodies that can actually trigger depression and depression-like symptoms when we are not being good to our bodies. So enjoy the fun foods in small portions and eat sensibly during the holidays because you will feel better, definitely be more joyful if you do!
Communicate Expectations
Sometimes joy can be lost during the holidays because expectations are not communicated between spouses, between families, or shared at all.
Maybe it’s something like giving and receiving gifts. Instead of being thankful and joyful for time spent together, you wind up dwelling on feeling like someone doesn’t know you at all because of the gift they gave you. Maybe it's that you are feeling inadequate because you can’t and didn’t spend as much on someone as they did on you. TRULY… you really don’t think that’s so important as spending real quality time with each other….do you?
If you know that’s you, then express and communicate those fears and the expectations that you have. I would much rather keep my joy than get disappointed over something trivial.
And maybe another expectation is that no one should expect your family to be at every event. That’s OK too, but to avoid those hard feelings - mention it and take a stand by saying that you will not be there because of whatever reason (if you feel you really need to GIVE a reason) and it’s not about them, but about decisions you make that are best for your family.
Surround Yourself with Happy People😃🙃😍
My favorite tip to be happy is to surround yourself with happy people. It seems so simple. But if the people you are around are negative, annoy you, are frustrating, and don’t lift you up or encourage you, then you honestly don’t have to be around them. This goes for family members as well.
Remember that it’s not about them, it’s about your well-being. You don’t have to make excuses either. The best way to find joy in the holidays or any day is to find positive and happy people to surround yourself with and to reject any negativity that might come your way.
Share Stories🙆♀️🙆♂️
Find joy in sharing stories with your children, with other family members, in taking time as a couple to remember times together, and overall in focusing on the good. There is joy to be found in remembering such beautiful and good times.
Always Focus on What’s Good
We often have to be strong to endure everything that’s “on our plate”, and we persevere when we really just want to crumble. It’s sometimes scary to soften our hearts for a moment, to see beyond the struggle, and to be thankful…but that is where the good stuff lies.
It’s so true. It can be really hard when we are juggling a full plate of life and all it throws at us. But in the end, we have beautiful families, we can marvel at this beautiful world, and that we are alive to experience both the good AND the bad. Because, ultimately, this is life and this is how we learn and grow.
