on thriving amidst holiday chaos

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Holy cow. This past week feels like life just kicked it up a notch. Social calendars filling up. Decorating to do. Holiday plans to sort out. Life running along. Feeling like I am being blasted by the noise of the season? 

Maybe it's just me?

As I write this week I am looking at what is on my get-to-do list and I am feeling a wee bit overwhelmed. I have had a headache for the past couple of days that seems to want to just sit and poke at my brain and I feel like I am on high alert to get everything done. However, unlike in the past, I am pausing to check in and listen to what my body is telling me. How's my sleep? Have I had enough movement in my day? Eating? (nachos for lunch don't count, Sarah). What about water? 

The signs are there ... they always are.

I haven't always paused to check in with myself. There was one year in particular, let's call it the "Gong Show" holiday season, where we had social commitments booked every weekend and some weeknights in the month of December. The kids had holiday concerts and year-end skating parties. I am pretty sure there was a weekend hockey tournament in there too. 

On top of it all, work was bonkers and I had a couple of major projects that were rushing to complete before Christmas. I can remember scrambling to order the kid's Christmas pyjamas (because they "had" to have new PJs every year!) and paying for express shipping from three different stores because I had left it too late and nothing was in stock.

To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement.

Christmas Day came and went that year. We celebrated with family. We had our usual Boxing Day "do nothing PJ day" where the only calendar item was to act like lazy sloths. I could feel myself starting to unwind. The chaos and stress leading up to the holidays was fading. After Christmas, we had a fun week planned including attending a theme party followed by a visit with friends who were in town for the holidays. Not much else. There would be time to nap. Time for reading. Time to go to the movies. Time to organize and sort through things.

I was so excited.

The theme party was a blast. Everyone got dressed up, we partied like rock stars and acted like we were twenty again. The very next day our out-of-town friends arrived. It was so good to see them. We had a hilarious dinner together. And, no surprise, stayed up super late, drank buckets of wine and laughed the night away.

I woke up after back-to-back big nights, on the heels of a crazy few weeks, tired and achy. I could feel the sniffles starting. The tickle in my throat. By evening I was feverish and chilled. Crap, I thought to myself, I was sure I had avoided the post-Christmas crash but nope. Not this time. As had been the pattern over the years, my body needed to scream super loud at me to be nicer to it!

Anyone else have Christmas seasons like that? Where you go go go then crash?

After that "Gong Show" holiday season I knew it didn't have to be the same pattern year after year. I promised myself that things would change. I made health my number one priority. I moved every day. I took my supplements religiously. I prioritized sleep. I listened to my body. I stopped saying yes to every social invitation. I knew I couldn't do it all. 

Change didn't happen overnight. It was a gradual shift with many hiccups along the way. But it felt right.

Ironically, the quiet holiday seasons created by pandemic-land helped calm the usual chaos. The social calendar stood empty. School events stopped. Feelings of obligation to attend things I didn't want to were gone. There were definitely gatherings I missed. But the noise was gone. The hustle paused. The pressure silenced. 

I felt the ending of one year and the start of another with a sense of hope and anticipation instead of sickness and exhaustion.

This year, as we enter a full-on holiday season I find myself with white space on the calendar. Intentional white space. I know now what I need to move through a busy time without crashing. What works for me to stay healthy in body and mind. What kinds of events I want to prioritize. 

I have learned I am a better Sarah to everyone when I'm healthy not when I try to do everything.

It means saying no more. It means getting clear on what my top priorities are. It means consistently moving my body and getting sleep. It means avoiding the temptation to indulge in every "treat" the season has to offer. 

It means tuning in to what is going on inside instead of reacting to everything around me.

The holiday season doesn't have to be chaos. You don't have to feel like you are falling over by the time the New Year rolls in. Consider this your permission slip to say no to something that doesn't light you up or make you feel good.

I would love to know ... are you doing anything differently this year to thrive amidst the holiday chaos?

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