The Christmas Awareness and Strategy blog

Ah, the Christmas season. For some, this is a wonderful time of year. Some say the most wonderful time. filled with fun, peace, joy, laughter, family, friends, good food, giving, winter activities, cozy evenings, and fond memories. However, the Christmas season also can be a time for stress, anxiety, sadness, frustration,  loneliness, disappointment, overworking, overeating, over drinking, and overspending. Yes, I know that's one way to kill the spirit but if you choose to believe this or not (somewhat like Santa) the ultimate harsh reality is it's true.  

Many, and oh do I mean many, people find the Christmas season to be very stressful. There’s shopping, cooking, cleaning, parties, travel, crowds, the onslaught of advertising telling us about everything we “should” have, expectations, positive and negative anticipation, the fear of failure (giving the “wrong” gifts, an unsuccessful party, disappointing food, inappropriate clothes), the pressure from our family and friends about what they “want,” interactions with people we may not always get along with, and the ingestion of sweets, treats, drinks, and extra calories. 

Now you might be able to connect and relate to the message I'm getting across. The idea is to now go on to explain and hopefully give some solutions to ways to bring your negative emotions down. Maybe you're somebody who doesn't deal with any of what I've listed. Well, I don't want you to not take anything away my message. For you is just be aware and be a big minded person. That yes, Christmas is fun it’s a time to get excited, but just remember all the effort people have put in and the stress they may be feeling. Make sure you make them feel as special as you want to feel, and have a holy jolly Christmas. 

Now, particularly stress it's a big word. It affects mostly the mind but also the  body and in many ways. Persistent, unrelieved stress can cause the body to have a stress-response, such as hyper-stimulated and then symptomatic. Once the body becomes overly stressed, it can take a long time to recover. So, managing stress is an important ingredient to enjoying the Christmas season and not having to enter into a protracted recovery after it's over. 

A great way to minimise the build-up of stress is to take regular rest breaks. The more you stress about seeing this family member, seeing that family member, it all adds up and then you are left having no energy to do whatever else you've got to do in your busy schedule. Making sure to take time to rest and relax each day can keep your body and mind healthy, especially during busy or pressure-filled times, like the Christmas holiday season. Also, resting for even five minutes here and there throughout the day can be enough to diffuse and offset a build up of stress. Practicing a daily deep relaxation technique is a great way to diffuse the buildup of stress and keep the body well rested during busy times. Research has shown that deep relaxation for 20 minutes can provide as much rest value as a few hours of sleep. So, making time each day to deeply relax is a small thing you can do to keep yourself healthy during and after the Christmas season.

At Christmas, the classic Christmas story is your all together, with your birth family. Many of you may have that, many of may not. It's an incredibly balanced subject. Some people may be with their partners family, step-families, adopted families, foster families, etc. If you are with people that you feel comfortable with which on Christmas, you should realistically be able tot ell them how you feel. That's what family and friends are there for. Tell them, for example “thank you for all your support and love this year”. Maybe you don't want to shout out, well just go and tell that individual by themself. It may not even be a family member It may be a teacher, boss, a person  that has helped you. Go and tell them how you feel, how much they mean to you, and you will feel better. Or, if you're not feeling great, tell them “I'm feeling stressed”. Explain your situation and then you don't have to worry because they all now know what your going through, and they will help you because you’re their family and they love you. They are not against you. Yes, there are family members you may not get along with. Well, don’t invite them to spend Christmas with you, or don't go to a Christmas where they're going to be involved. You can also take the polar opposite approach, and you can go sort your problems out with that person. But maybe now I'm asking too much from yous. 

Now, to those of you without families, who may be spending Christmas around the table alone. First off all, you're not the only one. Yes, it will feel like you are but you're definitely not. Take some time to embrace the sadness that you may feel, and just let it out. It's an amazing way to cope because that's something we hide, possibly all year round. On a day such as Christmas, I especially think it’s important to acknowledge how your feeling, take care of yourself, and know it won’t last forever. At the start, when I described Christmas as sad and lonely at times, I was mostly referring to people who may be isolated, but Up top, I also described Christmas as fun, joyous. Guess what? That can be your Christmas, too. Go on and treat yourself, do what you enjoy… and going into the new year, try your best to meet new folk. Add people to your Christmas table… and next year will be more joyful. You may think “I can't do that”, but you can. We all have amazing attributes. Somebody out there wants to spend the next Christmas with you, I promise. 

Thank you so much for reading. I sincerely hope you have connected and related to at least some parts of what I have to say today. To finish off, here’s a quote from my favourite Christmas film, “Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”.

Merry Christmas and too all a good night. 

- Tj

See below some links and information of local services and national helplines:

Stirling Aid Christmas Community Food: Food Distribution. Opening Christmas Eve 4pm-10pm , Stirling Community Food, 5 Wellgreen Lane, Stirling, FK8 2BS

Mind: Mental Health Organisation. Helpline & Online Chat

www.mind.org.uk

Samaritans: Mental Health Charity. Helpline & Online Chat

Call: 116 123

Or visit www.samaritans.org

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