| How
keep the Happy in Happy Holidays |
By:
Edward W. Smith |
|
The
holidays are coming and if you are like most people,
you have mixed feelings about it. Here is how to keep
the Happy in Happy Holidays.
First, make a conscious decision that you will be
happy this holiday season. Making the decision that
you will be happy creates expectations in your mind
that you will be happy and your life will begin to
align itself to make this happen. The decision causes
you to focus on making it happen by planning for it
and taking actions to make it happen. Decide what will
make you truly happy and start implementing the plans
for it right now. Remember we tend to get what we
focus on and by focusing on having a happy holiday
season you can increase the odds this will happen. You
will be in control of your life and this will improve
your morale as well.
So what would make you truly happy this holiday
season? Pick up the phone right now and invite someone
you would enjoy being with to lunch. Get out you
planner and ink in a day of visiting people and places
you have been wanting to but didn’t have time to.
The key is to decide what you want to do and make it
happen. That way you are insured of having some of the
key pieces needed for a happy holiday in place.
Ask yourself what you can do more of to make the
holidays fun and also what you can do less of that
takes away from the fun. Make an effort to maximize
the fun things and minimize the less fun things as you
plan your holiday activities. The 80/20 rule states
that we get 80% of the results from 20% of our
activities. So concentrate on the 20% of your
activities that give you 80% of your satisfaction
during the holidays. I take the 80/20 rule a step
further to point out that we also get 80% of our
dissatisfaction from 20% of our activities, so
concentrate on cutting those activities down.
Next plan to make the year 2006 your best year ever.
Planning to make 2006 your best year ever will help
you have a happier holiday season by giving you hope
as you view your life. When we have hope for the
future, we can tolerate things in the present a lot
better. Even if events get a little hectic in the
holiday season you will find that you won’t notice
it as much as your focus will be on the happier times
ahead. As a side note, the technique of focusing on a
better future can be used to get you over any tough
time in your life, not just the holidays. We will help
you make 2006 your best year yet in a future article,
but for now we will focus on the upcoming holidays.
Give yourself a reality check on what to expect during
the holiday season. We tend to think that the images
that are projected in ads or movies are what we should
be experiencing ourselves and this can cause
frustration and disappointment. Not everyone can be
happy at every moment during the holiday season.
Accept the fact that you will have ups and downs and
this is just a fact of life, you are not a failure or
a bad person because of it.
Begin to say no to some of the holiday events that
will be coming up. Pass some of the lower priority
events up entirely, and cut the time you spend at more
important events down. Can you turn a dinner
invitation, into a stop by for dessert type situation
for instance? I will let you in on a secret, some of
the people inviting you to events would rather be
doing other things themselves and will secretly be
glad you cut the time down, or switched the event to
early in 2006 when things are less hectic and you can
really enjoy yourselves.
Take care of yourself physically. Get enough sleep,
watch what you eat and drink, and get your exercise
and so on. If your body won’t support you, you
can’t enjoy the holidays.
Look for ways to make time to be by yourself during
the holidays, even if it is just a twenty-minute nap.
During the holidays, we tend to be with more people
than normal and our time alone is cut down. Make sure
you have some time alone to regain your balance and
reduce your stress.
Spend some time helping the less fortunate than you.
Helping others helps you as well as the people you are
assisting. Seeing others less fortunate than you helps
you realize how good you have it and gives you a
lasting sense of satisfaction when you see your
efforts with the less fortunate take effect.
Now here is a real “grinchish” suggestion. Don’t
cut back on your time you spend on your job during the
holidays as much as you might be tempted to. Some
people take vacation days during the holidays and this
extra time at home can wear thin fast. If you add many
extra days to the holidays you already will have, you
may find yourself bored at home or involved in
activities that you don’t enjoy. The weather can be
bad during the holidays and finding yourself
housebound doing things you don’t enjoy can really
rob you of enjoyment. The first workday in January is
always the one day everyone arrives early.
The holiday season truly can be a wonderful time. You
can see people you enjoy, you can express your love
and receive love, you can do things you wouldn’t
normally take time to do and so on. If you take time
to focus on making these things happen for you and cut
down on the things that take you away from that, you
will indeed have a Happy Holiday |
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