The beauty of the holiday season is the amazing time we get to spend with family, right?
And let’s be honest, for some, this is a time of year to endure rather than enjoy.
The challenges of the holiday season are the close and intense time we get to spend with family and years of pent up frustrations..
How many years have you looked forward to being with family and then you arrive, and within a few days or even sometimes a few hours, all the little annoyances, the gaslighting, the pettiness, the fighting, the passive aggressive comments, the competition etc etc….
They flare up and BANG, you are in your family nightmare….
And at that point, you start to feel drained, tired and back to where you were when you were a child.
It’s probably one of the reasons you don’t spend more time in that family environment the rest of the year.
And this year there is even more pressure as some of us who are used to catching up with family and friends are being separated either by countries or simply through circumstance.
So you might feel guilty for not being able to spend time with your family and it becomes a push pull scenario of guilt and relief that has you all confuse.
Your relationships suffer and it’s an endless cycle and you keep going like this year after year and the relationships just get worse and worse and you feel tight, constricted and suffocated.
You find yourself escaping by going out to get groceries, or locking yourself away or even worse….. exploding and having a huge argument that takes months after to clear up.
Trust me, I’ve been there and done that, often with families that aren’t even mine and I tended to manage it through passive aggressive behaviour, or suppressing the anger until I felt I would explode.
So what if you could experience a peaceful, fun and loving holiday season with your family?
What if you could TRUST that a loving and enjoyable family time is there for you, it’s possible, the enjoyment of the season is certain.
More than anything else, it’s an ENERGY shift.
It’s when you stop trying to please everyone or expecting them to please you and you start ALLOWING the flow.
You allow yourself to feel SAFE around all your family and friends, no matter what is actually happening in your external reality.
It’s about starting to TRUST that yes, you do get to have the holiday season that you desire, on “your” terms.
And that means, if you want to go off and spend some of your days doing something alone, with friends and not spend all your time with just your family, maybe you want to go to the cinema, go out and have coffee just because that’s what feels aligned for you.
Actually, it is what is necessary for you to do in order to stay in your energetic power and flow.
From this place, you can be overflowing in love for yourself and have lots left to give and receive.
And the joy and fun will just be with you.
Your main job each day is to get your energy to the highest vibration, align with your highest deserving and value of yourself, open your heart wide, and RECEIVE !
Do what feels right for you.
And let me let you in on a little secret, by sorting out your energetic vibration during the holiday season while all the possible triggers come up, you will be able to continue higher and higher through the year.
Sound good?
Because I’ve been in that place… I’ve been sitting down at what should be the perfect holiday lunch, or family day out and thought “oh my God !!!!” get me out of here !!!”
Any bells?
Is this you?
Does that resonate?
Read on….
So here are some tips of how you can navigate the holiday season
1. Get plenty of YOU time, when your bucket is full, there is no resentment to being in other’s company 24/7.
2. Regular physical exercise (it can be as light as taking a walk, getting some fresh air, and moving your body allows you to release stress hormones and stimulates “happy” hormones)
3. Allow yourself to let go of the past and whenever you feel a trigger, learn how to let it go.
4. Be realistic and firm with responsibilities for the season. eg who will cook, clear up, tidy, order food, organise entertainment, etc.
5. Know when to take a “time out”
6. Allow and expect great surprises and joy.
7. Lastly, if you have a really toxic environment, consider taking yourself out of it.
8. Get some regular outside support if you feel that you could resolve some of the consistent pressures and triggers of family relationships.