Get Thru The Holiday Stress Without Troubling Your Relationship
Most of us like to think of the holiday season with warm fuzzies; a time of love and spending time with people you love. But the truth is, that it can be a difficult time of year with a lot of different types of stressors. If your relationship is already a little rocky you may want to know if it will be possible to get thru the holiday stress without troubling your relationship.
While you can get thru the holiday stress without troubling your relationship , it will probably take some work and some forethought.
One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself is to realize that most of us create a great deal of our own stress. We may have outside forces, but in most cases it's either the way we respond to that stress or it's that we expect (want) things to be perfect.
Hey, it's not really our fault, we are raised with the idea that we need to always strive for perfection, and within reason, that can actually make us better. But sometimes we just don't have realistic expectations.
So, to increase your odds of making your holiday season merry and bright and not adding any stress to yourself or your relationship, stop expecting some Norman Rockwell holiday. Take it easy and have some fun.
Here are some tips that will help you do just that:
1. Don't take on too much. We are all guilty of it, and it's our feelings of guilt that often makes it hard for us to say no. I have a dear friend who loves to bake dozens of Christmas cookies every year. But one year she had too much going on and didn't have the time to do the baking.
I told her to just not worry about it, but she was adamant that it "had" to get done. I asked her "why did it have to get done" and she kind of just stopped in her tracks.
She was basically going on autopilot and was so used to baking every year that she never stopped to wonder if she really wanted to do it.
Don't do that to yourself, carefully consider what you think "has" to be done. Pick the things that really do need to be done and / or that you really enjoy and forget about the rest.
2. Keep communication with your partner open. Ask them if they want to do some of the holiday activities. If you like to go shopping and your partner hates it, why drag them along? Why not just go with some friends? That is one simple way to alleviate a lot of the stress of the holiday season.
Of course if you both hate it than you both should do it together to make it as easy as possible. But otherwise, just do it and get it over with.
You see, it isn't impossible to get thru the holiday stress without troubling your relationship as long as you use common sense and learn to say no every now and then. Read more tips and information on about relationship