Holidays – Blessing or Curse?
The holiday season is going full throttle and for some folks this holiday season is starting off extremely difficult for a number of reasons. Maybe you lost someone dear to you earlier this year and this will be the first holiday season without them? It might be you’re facing a challenging financial situation that seems to worsen with every passing week. It could be that holidays dredge up the ghosts of Christmas past that you can’t seem to shake.
Whatever the reason, in times like this many of us wish that things were different than what they are!
And yet, how many times in the past, after experiencing difficult circumstances were we able to look back and see the good that resulted from the situation? The very same situation you were cursing a day, a week, or a few months ago!
Shifting Your Focus
During challenging times it can be hard to focus on the good. Why? Because we are so focused on how uncomfortable, painful, stressful, or inconvenient the situation is that we are experiencing.
The holidays can be stressful, they can put undue pressure on all of us. For some reason, our feelings (negative or positive) seem to get magnified as we come to the end of one year and transition into the next.
Sometimes the path out is to shift our focus and focus on the blessings instead of the curse.
Focus on the Blessings
Here are 3 thoughts that can help you to shift your focus on your blessings this holiday season:
- It’s All Temporary – Remind yourself that all things in life are temporary; including pain, discomfort, stress and visits to or from your relatives during Xmas.
- Count Your Blessings – Literally…make a list of all the things that are going well in your life and the things that create a feeling of being blessed. Yes, that includes your spouse and children (remember some folks will not be experiencing the holidays with their whole family this year…people may be missing for one reason or another)
- Get Out of Your Head – A friend of mine once said, “A walk through my mind is a walk through a dangerous neighborhood.” Sometimes we get so focused on ourselves (inwardly) that the only way out of our pain and discomfort is to focus (outwardly) on others by blessing them with an act of kindness.
This holiday season can be crazy, hectic, rushed, stressful, uncomfortable, and filled with angst. If that is the case it might require you reach out for a little extra added help from the outside.
On the other hand, It can be joyful, wonderful, relaxing, peaceful, and filled with blessings.
I guess you just have to decide what you want it to be and then focus on looking for whatever it is you want…a blessing or a curse.
If you’d like to kick off the year with a fresh start, you might want to click here…
In the meantime…
I wish you nothing but an extraordinary and blessed holiday season!
