NOTES FROM THE AWARENESS: 1251

Balance it out.

In the last months of the year and as the holiday season approaches, we may be feeling both wistful and stressed. We may be wistful about what happened and what didn’t happen. We also may feel stressed about what we feel we failed to do and what we feel have to do in the coming weeks.

Unless something we missed out on doing is urgent or involves self-care, it’s likely we can safely postpone it into the New Year. If we managed to go most of a calendar year without it happening, we probably can wait a few more weeks. No need to increase our stress levels just now.

If we’re preparing a mental (or written) to-do list for the holidays, there are a few items that need to be at the top of the list every day—conscious deep breathing, reality checks about what’s truly important (and what isn’t), gratitude for what we do have, healthy diet and activity levels, and taking time out for a bit of fun.

Once we’ve accomplished those items, we may still have time to knock off a few holiday chores. Balancing out a healthy lifestyle with the all too usual holiday frenzy can help us feel better about ourselves and the upcoming celebrations. If we’ve taken the time to care for our well-being, we’ll be more fun to be around, too.

Today’s message invites me to maintain a sense of balance. Having everything perfect for the holidays is far less important that feeling good about myself and being pleasant to be around.

Please reflect and share. How might you establish some balance in your life in the coming weeks?