I have a love-hate relationship with the entire month of December. I love celebrating my birthday (December 24). I love that there are a million things to do and events to attend. I love baking cookies and boxing them up for family, friends and clients as if they were an extravagant gift. However, I hate the pressure of making 1,000 perfect cookies. FKGuy is not a big fan of assembling said boxes, either. I hate the guilt of not going to certain parties. So, what’s a person to do?
I have taken to scheduling time on my calendar to bake the cookies. It answers the question of when things will get done and leaves me sleeping at 2AM instead of cursing the cookies. Of course, the hard drive on my computer crashed the other day leaving me plenty of extra time in my schedule to make cookie dough, and less time to work.
I have also taken to only attending parties that are feasible. No more trying to squeeze two or more parties into one night. Not only does it become unnecessarily stressful, but it make me cranky and nobody wants to be at a party with the cranky version of me.
Adding to the stress of the holiday season is the upcoming half marathon on January 8. I should be limiting my alcohol intake and eating nothing but skinless chicken. Alas, that would not be any fun at all, and I would turn cranky (see above). So I will continue to enjoy myself and I will eat and drink better the week before the race. Note that this is not a New Year’s resolution, but rather a week-before-the-marathon resolution. I will go back to normal on January 9th.
Enjoy your holiday season and try to stay stress-free. Pick your battles and don’t try to cram in everything because someone else says you should.
Do you have tips for staying stress-free during the holidays? Leave a comment and share with the rest of us!
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