December 24, 2014

I was driving my 5th grader to drum lessons this week when I had the opportunity to talk with him about school, the holidays, and what would make the holidays really special for him. We got on the subject of mountain biking because he has asked for a new mountain bike for Christmas and he looked at me and said, “you see mom, when I am mountain biking, I am in my happy place.” I immediately started thinking about how stressful the holidays can be with all the additional events, gifts to purchase, preparation for travel, mailing items on time, kids bouncing off the wall and out of school, not to mention that the first thing we often give up to make time for the holiday hoopla is the thing that takes us to our happy place.

Life can be enormously stressful and one of the best ways to combat stress is to create time for balance. Everything in our lives can be classified as stress or balance. The things that might be stressful for me might be balancing for someone else. I urge you to think about the holidays and make a mental note of all the things this week that will be stressful for you – whether it is work, kids being home, family in town, last minute shopping, taking care of a sick friend or loved one, travel, etc. Write them all down and then try to write down all the things that create balance for you – maybe 5 minutes of meditating, making sure you get in your exercise, date night with your significant other, watching a movie with your kids, whatever it might be. Now figure out how to schedule time in your calendar for balance, I promise it will help you manage the holidays will a little extra spring in your stride. Just make sure you create some time to be in your happy place in the next two weeks.