At Christmas, every road leads home – Marjorie Holmes
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. -Charles Dickens
That most wonderful time of the year is around the corner again. If you are wondering how it will turn out for you and your family this year, well, you are not alone. Part of what makes Christmas a wonderful time of the year is, what Christmas means for billions of Christians around the world. It is not just a holiday for Christians. It is a celebration of God’s awesome love for humanity. The gathering of friends, family, neighbors, and well-wishers, the colorfulness, the foods, drinks, and entertainments, and all the joyfulness of the season that converge to embellish the season and make it wonderful are the people’s expression of the special gift. Christmas is my favorite season of the year. I love the decorations in the shopping malls. I love the gift sets. I love Christmas songs. I love the presence of Santa clause at the malls, parks, churches, and other places. I love seeing the children queue up to meet Mr. Clause and get some gifts from him that is, the good children. Oh did I say I love Christmas stories? How I love this most wonderful time of the year. Needless to say, I am not the only one who loves Christmas.
When the angels brought the good news to the shepherds in the field, they declared that they have come to bring them good tidings of comfort and joy. This Christmas message gets swallowed up by all the worldly preparations for the celebration. A lot of people get carried away in the excitement caused by the preparations for the celebration. This in turn increases people’s stress level. The early shoppers are stressed because they may not get good bargains, late shoppers are stressed because they are crunched for time, families max out their credit cards, some go borrowing and later sorrowing, the people who are traveling are stressed by the preparations, those expecting family and friends are stressed out over decorating the home and the menu and so on. Here is how to have a stress free Christmas this year- SET A GOAL, PLAN, AND FOLLOW THROUGH.
Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent return on energy – Brian Tracy, author, and motivational speaker.
The way some of us go about our preparations, one will think that Christmas was an emergency. This event happens once every year on a particular date and will continue to happen until the end of time as we know it. So if you are always overwhelmed during Christmas, try something different this year. First set a goal to have a stress free Christmas this year. Invest some of your time to plan how you intend to experience it and work your plan. Here’s what I mean.
- Write down your goal. A goal not written is wishful thinking. As success-oriented people, we already know that wishful thinking can’t get us anywhere. The first step is to write it down on paper. There is something about writing down your goal. Be specific.
- Plan – Draw up a workable plan on how you can achieve your goal. Most smartphones have a calendar. Use it. You can set reminders up to three times for each event scheduled. You can be reminded by email or SMS. Take time to fill out your calendar. This you can carry with you anywhere you go.
- Decide upfront if you are traveling and to where? Is it a family vacation or a family reunion? If it is a family reunion, who is hosting. Even if it is not a family reunion, it helps to decide earlier on, if you are inviting people over on Christmas day or if you are going to be someone’s guest.
- If you are hosting, prepare your invitation list. This simple act will help you a whole lot because you can decide the number of people you want to invite. Before you invite someone, you may want to think it through. There is no wisdom in inviting people who will cause you grief and stress. If cousin Zik’s wife comes around only to criticize your house and furnishings, you are not under any obligation to invite cousin Zik since you cannot invite him alone. Not inviting them might get that message you have been wanting to get across to them but have been too timid to do so more effectively. The people you invite make the gathering whatever it turns out to be. choose to invite wisely. If it is a family reunion, oh well good luck with that. You don’t get to chose who your family members are but you can set parameters at least in your mind and stick to it.
- Decide on your menu early – If you are hosting, this is the time to put your menu together. Gather the ingredients you need early enough. If there is a new dish on the menu that you have never prepared before, try it at least once to avoid embarrassment. Leaving it for the last minute is a recipe for disaster. Stress is in love with disasters. Keep stress away from you this Christmas and you will be happy you did.
- Make a list of the people you are buying gifts for- we tend to forget this simple aspect of Christmas gifting. Without this list, you are most likely to overspend or worst yet, forget somebody. The list gives you confidence because you have everyone covered even before you set out to shop. I will add a price tag next to each name. With most economies in crisis due to the Covid19 pandemic, this year’s Christmas will not be as usual for most people. So there is no need to show off. We get it already. With a price of your choice attached to a name, you are in control and the stress of overspending is less because you can tell what you can and cannot afford. You can adjust each budget up or down as you please even before you hit the shopping mall.
- Covid-19 Shopping – One of the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis is virtuality. In some countries like the United States of America, South America, some European countries, and parts of Asia the pandemic is still very active. One has to be careful about going out. Where possible, do your business virtually. Online shopping this Christmas is going to be huge. E-commerce sales this Christmas is expected to surge 25% to 35% compared to 2019. This amounts to $182 billion to $196 billion compared to a 14.7% increase during the 2019 holiday totaling $145 billion according to Deloitte [the business consultant and analysis company.
- Shop early – Whether you are shopping online or in-store, it is wise to start early. Shopping early reduces the stress of last-minute shopping and long queues in overcrowded stores. If shopping online, it is wise to do so early so that you can receive your orders on time. If for whatever reasons you have to return or exchange some items, it also gives you enough time to do so.
- Delegate, and ask for help- Oftentimes, people want to do everything by themselves either because they don’t trust that another person can do it right or they don’t believe they can get help if they ask for it. There is no award for doing everything by yourself especially if you are hosting at Christmas. Ask for help. Delegate as much as possible. You don’t have to be the one to address all the Christmas cards. You can ask your children or spouse to handle that. You don’t have to do the Christmas decoration all by yourself or do the gift wraps alone. There are too many moving parts during the Christmas holidays and it is okay to delegate as much as possible if you want a stress free Christmas.
- It’s okay to say ‘no’; – often, we are nice to our detriment. Saying ‘no’; does not make you a bad person. The way you say it though may give the wrong impression. So if it is your family’s turn to host the extended family this year and you can’t handle it for whatever reasons, nicely say ‘no’ If your church or social group always depend on you to organize the Christmas carol and you don’t feel like it this year, it’s okay to say ‘No please I will take a rain check this year’ It doesn’t make you Mr. Grinch who stole Christmas. Perhaps this year you just want a simple Christmas celebration at home with your immediate family, it is your choice and it is okay to decline invitations. There is no need to feel guilty about saying no. It is your health, it is your life. No, can be a source of relief sometimes.
- Hold on to your daily routines- I work out at least five days a week. It is one of my engagements for good health. One of the hallmarks of a successful person is that they are goal orientated. If you are a success-minded person you must have routines that help you reach your goals. Do not abandon your daily routines just because you are celebrating Christmas. The essence of the season is not to derail your success journey but for you to be joyful and appreciative of God’s peculiar gift to mankind. If you abandon your routine, you most likely will regret it later, and regret is stressful.
- Plan – every aspect of your celebration. Whether hosting, hosted, or celebrating quietly, plan to maintain your cool at all times. Sometimes we get emotional watching television commercials which have been designed to give allusions to what life should be. These commercials or movies can trigger stressful moments in us. This is particularly so for people who have lost loved ones. You can choose to direct your thoughts towards the happy times you shared with your departed loved ones especially those Christmas fun times. If you plan to take charge of your emotions in light of your reality not some imaginary characters’ world, you will be able to avoid the stress of an emotional roller coaster.
- Divert negative energy – There are many motivating books [paper and audio] podcasts and you-tube channels that can keep your mind on the positive and motivated during this period and even beyond. This can be helpful to singles either due to divorce, breakup, or other circumstances. Get hold of any of these resources. Feel your mind with motivating messages. It is always a great stress buster.
HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!