Life
8 Things Not To Worry About During The Holidays
As the holiday season and new year approaches, we all start to get wrapped up with resolutions and betterment goals. It's a natural process, and as we welcome a new year, we're prone to reflections. We want to go into each new year with better intentions than the last. And it's good for us to go through our lives with progression driving us — to some extent.
The holiday season always winds up being a time for us to think about the ways we can improve ourselves and enrich our lives. It's also a time where we can fall too easily into negative thinking. It's almost as if we gang up on ourselves, pointing out our flaws and the ways in which we've fallen short from our own expectations. We give ourselves so much crap, when we should really be giving ourselves a pat on the back.
The holiday season and the new year should be less about the ways in which we've failed ourselves, and more about the ways that we've grown. Personal success and internal growth cannot be measured by pounds or dollar signs or rings on fingers. This holiday season, leave these things off of your list of complaints — they're not worth the negativity.
Your Plans, Or Lack Thereof
Sure, it's nice to have plans. It feels good to get invited places and have invitations hanging on your fridge and notifications on your phone. But if you don't get a ton of invites this year, don't let it stop you from having a festive holiday season. Take yourself to see a holiday show, walk around your city and take it all in. It's perfectly healthy and wonderful to spend time with yourself. For the most part, big fancy holiday parties are over-rated, and the people who do get invited dread going!
Your Pay Grade
OK, so you wanted to be making X amount of money by this year and it didn't happen. But you did what you could and you've been working your ass off, and one day it will pay off. The world doesn't always work on your resolution schedule, so don't be too hard on yourself. Be proud of your good work and efforts.
Your Relationship Status
You wanted this year to be the year that you brought a plus one to your family's holiday dinner, and alas, you're showing up alone. That's OK! Love doesn't fall into your lap for the sake of impressing your family. Your love life will sort itself out when it's meant to, and you shouldn't be comparing yourself to others or feeling less fortunate because you don't have a partner yet
Your Gifting Goals
Getting your loved ones the right gifts can be really stressful. Everyone wants to be able to afford the gifts that are going to make people feel appreciated and loved — there's really no better feeling than giving that perfect gift. But don't let the stress of making other people happy get in the way of your own happiness. Set a dollar and time limit that you spend on looking and purchasing gifts. Don't let this joyous act ruin your holidays.
Seeing Your Family
For some people, seeing family during the holidays is super exciting. For others, it's a nightmare. No matter what your relationship is like with your family, remember that your own comfort and mental health comes first, so put your time in but don't make yourself feel guilty if you can only manage a day or two of family time. Spending time with yourself is an important holiday staple, too!
Feeling Lonely
For some, the holidays are a super lonely time. They're more a disruption of your normal life that you're comfortable than they are a treat. If you don't have a lot of social engagements or holiday cheer, all that free time can be really isolating. But remember that this is just a small chunk of time during the year. While you might feel lonely for a few nights, it's not indicative of your whole life. Try to find things to do that make you happy and don't think to much about it. Having a New Year's kiss is overrated, too.
Loving Your Life
Guess what? You're not required to love your life with a passion. It's not your responsibility to show up at the holiday table and be able to beam with delight about your job and how wonderful your job is. You are a work in progress, and you're entitled to live your life at your own pace and not for the approval of others. You'll get to a good place, but not of the sake of making people comfortable around the table.
Your Career
During the holiday season, people are bound to ask you about your job. It comes from a good place, people want to know that you're happy and thriving, but it also forces you to quantify your success and happiness for the sake of others. Maybe you're not advancing much at your current job. Maybe you're not happy in your industry and want to completely drop out and start over. Don't feel bad about where you are in your career because it doesn't sound like dazzling and uplifting dinner table talk. Don't ever apologize for where you are or how you feel. Your career is not on a holiday schedule.
