Next week I’ll be sharing Intern Anna’s wonderful tips for relieving holiday stress that some of you may remember from last year. Her article is HERE on my website. So if my tips today for preventing holiday stress don’t resonate or work for you, take a sneak peek at her tips for relieving some of that stress.
Those of you who are new to this journey may be learning that our loved ones with the Eating Disorders are challenged with finding that place between black-and-white, right and wrong, good and bad. Some call this place; the middle path, the gray area or all the colors of the rainbow for example.
When I think about how family caregivers can prevent holiday distress I think about that middle place.
I am not suggesting that you need to do what I did last year and completely let go of your holiday traditions and travel across the world and sit on the beach and have tapas for your holiday dinner. Lol.
What I did last holiday season is way at one end of the spectrum, and continuing to do what we have traditionally done may be at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Today I’m offering a perspective of finding something in between those two extremes to lighten your load and bring back the possibility for joy to be present.
Instead of giving you tips as Anna does next week, I’m going to give you some questions to ponder to help you consider what might help alleviate some distress of the holiday season for you.
Questions to consider to possibly alleviate holiday distress by choosing a middle path:
- What is a different way you could celebrate the holiday without so much pressure?
- How might you alter or let go of some holiday traditions to take some pressure off of yourself as a caregiver?
- What would be a simpler way to still hold onto part of a tradition?
- How might you stop “shoulding” on yourself this holiday season?
- What’s a silly way to make a task more fun?
As you think about celebrating with family and friends it might feel confusing to have fun, given the pain you are feeling regarding your loved ones illness. Know that it is okay to both celebrate your traditions and feel pain at the same time. Both can be true.
My wish for you this holiday season is to be true to yourself and be gentle with yourself.
For more support for caregivers and this topic, visit beckhenry.com
Remember, we have loads of free support on my YouTube Channel and on my blog.
Take care,
