It’s winter, and nearly Christmas. We are biologically designed to slow down at this time of year, to sleep more, to do less, to rest before the busyness of spring. Yet most people seem to be more hectic than ever, planning for Christmas as well as trying to get stuff done at work before they take their time off.
We all feel as if we have less time anyway, with the shortness of daylight hours and the extra things to be done, and this leaves us tending towards grumpiness!!
Yet Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill towards all. So how about starting by showing some peace and goodwill towards yourself?
You could let yourself off some of that pressure and be a little more kind to yourself.
- Have a few nights of extra sleep – you need it to build your energy
- Remember that no-one else will be working over Christmas, and you will probably do some of those tasks you have set yourself more effectively after a few days off, so check whether it is really necessary to do it now
- Remember that Christmas only means a couple of days without shopping these days, so you don’t need to stock up for a major famine!
- Make sure your Christmas plans include a little ‘me time’, doing something you want to do to just please yourself
Once you have been a little more kind to yourself, you can look at ways of showing peace and goodwill towards others: your family, your friends, your work colleagues. The most precious gift of all is to give our love and attention to others. Presents and cards are just a representation of that, so what else can we do to demonstrate our love?
- Snuggle up with the family and watch a film you can all enjoy
- Make their favourite meal one day
- Put a short message on that Christmas card to tell them how much you appreciate them
It’s time we brought back the essential elements of this season of the year, and allowed ourselves a little more leeway.
It’s all about love and kindness, and it starts with you, so please be kinder to yourself – you deserve it!
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