Have a Stress Free Christmas!

Be Realistic
We all dream of perfect Santa down the chimney covered in snow Christmases but in reality this is hard to achieve so keep your expectations real. Perfect Christmases come from accepting what is not good and taking action to improve it rather than wishing it will all come right on the day – if you don’t get on with your family the rest of the year then getting together at Christmas is going to really confirm that.

How to deal with it – remember that Christmas day is just one day so if you have commitments that you have to honour on that day, create your own perfect day on another date in the holiday period – book a pampery day at a spa, invite all your friends round for a party or disappear off to the seaside with your loved ones.

Be Tolerant
Christmas is a very emotive time so expect nerves to be a bit more tingly than usual. Christmas tends to bring back childlike emotions in all of sulky and us that makes us more demanding if we don’t get our own way and this can cause real friction.

How it deal with it – Its all about communication and team work – if you can all agree that you don’t want to disagree over Christmas then get any concerns out in the open well in advance.

Step Out of the Routine
We often feel obliged to do things because we feel that is what someone else what’s us to do. Just because someone said how much they enjoyed having everyone over on Christmas day or loved the socks you bought them does not mean they will get the same enjoyment year in year out. We may well think our elderly parents love having you all bickering around the Christmas table and you feel resentment because you want to be doing something else but has anyone bothered to talk about this.

How to deal with it – talk to everyone involved, you may well find that everyone has been longing to break the routine but all thought that everyone else loved it so didn’t want to hurt their feelings.

Stop Making It A Chore
Christmas is not compulsory but so many people start complaining about it months in advance as if it is some sort of endurance test. Christmas is supposed to be a pleasurable time and if you start off with a negative attitude, you can guarantee that it will be a very negative event.

How to deal with it - We all have problems in our life that won’t disappear just because it is Christmas. Take positive steps to bring pleasure and satisfaction into your life over the holiday period and put your problems on hold – Say to yourself you are going to de everything that you can to make Christmas as enjoyable as possible and this will involve addressing negative aspects that could prevent that from happening.

Concentrate on Keeping Energy Levels Up
Christmas is very exhausting, first there is all the additional shopping and preparation and then there is all the rich food and drink and loads of it combined with little mental of physical activity. All this is a real energy drain on the body.

How to deal with it – 3 key things – don’t do yourself in before Christmas day. Its all in the planning but remember you don’t need to prove you are superwoman, who cares that you buy ready prepared mince pies and didn’t have time to create a table decoration. Secondly, make sure you set aside time to relax, even if it is only for 5 or 10 minutes. Thirdly, you don’t need to do excess. You don’t need to buy jumbo quantities of food and drink or watch endless hours of television when you have a video. Over indulgence may seem like a fun idea but if it makes you feel tired and crabby, that not conducive to a good time.