Busting Holiday Stress: 6 Ways to Make the Season Happy & Healthy

Lynn Allison 
https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/holiday-stress-buster/2017/12/07/id/830539/

The winter holidays can bring feelings of happiness, love, and genuine joy. But for millions of Americans they also bring unhealthy stress levels that can negatively impact your body and mind.

Dr. Judy Kuriansky, a noted New York-based psychologist, tells Newsmax Health it’s important to come up with strategies for managing holiday stress, beginning with keeping perspective and balance between now and New Year’s Day.

“The key to making this season happy — and maybe for the first time in your adult life — is to examine the triggers that cause your stress and diffuse them before they explode,” Kuriansky says.
“And that means being honest with yourself and your limitations. We all know the serenity prayer that reminds us to know the difference between what we can control and what we can’t. The source of discontentment during this busy season is not being realistic — not truly seeing our situation for what is, and expecting people and things to change.”

According to a report compiled by the American Psychological Association, holiday stress has the greatest impact on women who customarily take charge of many of the holiday celebrations — particularly the tasks of preparing the meals and decorating the home.

Women are also most likely to be the ones shopping for and wrapping gifts. They have a harder time relaxing during the holidays and are more likely to fall into bad habits to manage their stress, like comfort eating.

"Studies show that our appetite for sweets increases quite dramatically when we experience chronic stress which makes the holiday season prime time for expanding your waistline,” Dr. Heidi Hanna, executive director of the American Institute for Stress, tells Newsmax Health. “Don’t deprive yourself of the occasional treat but practice eating slowly, calmly and mindfully.”

Financial stress, especially in times of economic woes, can also wreak havoc in families struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. Lack of money, lack of time and the hype and commercialism of the holiday season play upon the emotions and may cause family discord instead of harmony.

These startling statistics tell the story. When people were asked what feelings they experienced most during the holiday season, they reported:
·         Fatigue — 68 percent
·         Stress — 61 percent
·         Irritability — 52 percent
·         Sadness — 36 percent
·         Anger — 35 percent
·         Loneliness — 26 percent
In fact, the APA reports that nearly three-quarters of the people surveyed say that they experience stress levels that exceed what they define as healthy.

Here are some more interesting statistics
·         Americans spend about $525 billion over the holiday season with online spending increasing 12 percent annually.
·         The average person spends just under $1,200 over the holidays including food, gifts and travel.
·         At least 23 percent of holiday expenses are charged to a credit card with over 6 million people borrowing to pay for Christmas each year.
·         One third of bankruptcies filed in March is caused by overspending at Christmas.
To keep your financial house in order, keep an open dialogue with family and friends about gift giving. Many families draw names from a hat and chose one person to gift which dramatically cuts down holiday costs.

In addition to financial stresses, the holidays can boost family tensions. Not every family is blessed with Brady Bunch dynamics. Getting together during the holiday season can cause massive stress.
“Food is a huge issue,” says Kuriansky. “When families sit at the table together, all of a sudden they’re all kids again fighting over who gets the drumstick, who is being a glutton or who is not eating enough. We all become little children again with petty fighting and grievances.”
Acknowledging these dynamics is the first step to reversing negative consequences.

“For example, if your super critical sibling once again mentions how dry the turkey is, be prepared to ignore her.” advises Kuriansky. “This year, shine the light of your attention on something positive and simply flip the switch when she begins her usually criticisms. Things only bother us if we give them our attention. So make that shift from annoyance to gratitude.”

Here are more quick tips from the American Psychological Association:
Take time for yourself. There may be pressure to be everything to everyone but remember that you are only one person and can only accomplish certain things. Take a long walk, get a massage, or simply put your feet up and listen to fine music.

Don’t neglect your physical health. If you have a regular exercise routine, don’t give it up. Exercise releases natural feel-good hormones that can combat stress.

Set realistic expectations. No Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or any other holiday celebration is perfect. Look at the inevitable mistakes or mishaps as opportunities to demonstrate resilience and flexibility. Learn to let go of perfectionist idealism because it does not exist.

Volunteer. What better way to appreciate what you’ve got than to help others who have less? You can “adopt” a less fortunate family and make their holiday shine. You can wrap gifts for foster children, serve at a soup kitchen, volunteer at homeless shelter, or participate in a giving tree celebration that benefits communities at large.

Remember what’s important. The barrage of holiday advertising can make us forget what the holiday season is really about. When your expense list is running longer than your monthly budget, scale back and remind yourself that what makes a great celebration is family, not store-bought presents, elaborate decorations, or gourmet food.

Seek support. Talk about your feelings of anxiety with friends and family. Getting things out in the open can help you navigate through the holiday season with less resentment and anger. In addition, being honest with your loved ones can help find a solution for your stress. If you continue to feel overwhelmed, consider seeking a professional to help you manage your holiday stress.

Christmas in 1776, by Thomas Kidd

Dec. 18, 2012  By Thomas Kidd          

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2012/12/christmas-in-1776/

Tis the season to argue about religion. Or more specifically, to feud about whether to say Merry Christmas or Seasons Greetings…to call it a Christmas Village or a Holiday Village…or to allow a crèche or menorah to stand on public property.

What would Americans at the time of our nation’s founding think about all this? They would have been perplexed. Perplexed, first, at the ways that we fuss about the public role of religion. As I discuss in God of Liberty, the Revolutionary era was shot through with public expressions of faith, from the days of prayer and fasting declared by presidents, to the chaplains employed by the Continental Congress and Washington’s army, to the faith principles undergirding the Revolution itself, especially the notion that all men are created equal. The concept of a public square stripped of religion would have been deeply unfamiliar to Americans in 1776.

But they would also find our kind of Christmas strange, and probably unpleasant. We are constantly warned by the prophets of our age–Charlie Brown and Snoopy chief among them–that we should not become obsessed with commercialism at Christmas. Yet this is like warning fish about the pollution in water–a world of consumption is what we Americans live and breathe in.

Christmas in 1776 was very different. One difference, of course, is that America was engaged in a terrible war with Britain. That is why George Washington and his army spent Christmas night of 1776 crossing the Delaware River through a blizzard of sleet–to attack the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey.

Wartime or not, Christmas was not a big public spectacle at the time of the Founding. One searches in vain through the newspapers and almanacs of the Revolutionary War period to find references to Christmas. It was almost never mentioned, even on December 25 itself. When it was, the holiday was usually only cited as a reference point. (“General Washington hopes that the war will be over by Christmas,” and such.)

But let’s not be romantic about their simple, subdued Christmas, either. One reason that Christmas was downplayed in the New England states is because the Puritan fathers had banned Christmas for much of the seventeenth century. This was not because they were killjoys, but because they did not see how the Bible taught a December Christmas. They believed that the festival of Christmas was invented by medieval Catholics–and this was never a good thing, if you were a Puritan.

You did see occasional evidence of commercialism in Revolutionary America, too, especially after the war was over. In the Christmas Eve edition of Rivington’s New York Gazette for 1783, there was a screaming advertisement–almost reminiscent of our “Black Friday” ads–for “CHRISTMAS and NEW YEAR’S PRESENTS,” which included gold and silver watches; goblets fit for drinking “Porter, Ales, Punch, Sangree” and other holiday beverages; and assortments of stockings which the merchant pronounced “Monstrous Cheap.”

Christmas at the time of the founding–for those who embraced it–was mostly a family and church affair. Lauren Winner’s delightful book A Cheerful and Comfortable Faith shows how Christmas occurred naturally as a part of the household devotion of eighteenth-century Anglicans in Virginia. Wealthy families there often had sumptuous feasts. At one Christmas dinner, the menu of the Fairfax family included “six mince pies, seven custards, twelve tarts, one chicken pie, and four puddings.” Twelfth Night, the evening signaling the end of the Christmas season, saw even bigger bashes, which could sometimes turn into drunken brawls. Devout Anglicans also made their way to church for the Sunday of Christmas week, where they would hear a special sermon on the incarnation, and receive communion.

In modern America, outdoor nativity scenes and other Christmas displays became common after World War I, encouraged by the advent of electricity to light them at night. Some of these displays ended up on government property, a circumstance which predictably elicited lawsuits by secularists. The first major lawsuit on this topic sought to remove a nativity scene from the White House Ellipse in 1969. A number of contradictory court decisions have followed, fostering annual feuding and court cases regarding Christmas or Hanukkah displays.

Americans of 1776 had no particular need for public manger scenes. Christmas, when observed, fit easily in the traditional rhythms of home and church life. Obviously, they had no secularists screeching for the removal of Baby Jesus from the public park, either. His image was not there in the first place, nor did it need to be. Their society was already pervasively religious, even though not every American was a saint. They lived in a serenely religious milieu that we can only approximate today. We certainly can’t recreate it on today’s fractious courthouse square. Thankfully, believers can still foster an indisputably Christian Christmas in our homes and churches. I guess that is where Christmas is the most edifying anyway.

Are u Dreading a Christmas Financial Burden?

A recent Think Finance poll showed that 45% of Americans would rather SKIP CHRISTMAS because of the financial stress and strain on their precarious finances.  They do not expect to have enough money to cover holiday expenses, which is understandable when you consider how many people live paycheck to paycheck.  Thus many are seeking ways to spend less during the holidays.  So I’d like to offer a few ways to limit or reduce your holiday expenses.

To get a handle on how much you spend on the holidays, make a list of those you give presents to and other holiday expenses, that shows about how much you spend on each.  Add up the total, and compare it to the funds you will have available.  Try to reduce or avoid charging things on your credit card.

Could you explain to some of those whom you usually give to, that you’re struggling financially or had unexpected bills, and plan a more modest Christmas?  They would understand if you could not afford to give them a gift. 

Consider an alternative such as a homemade gift or a card with a note about why that person means so much to you or what you appreciate about her.  Could you give him a dozen homemade cookies or another baked item? 

Read the Bible’s warnings about taking on debt in Proverbs 22:7, 26-27 and Deuteronomy 15:6.  Then refuse to feel guilty about not being able to give someone an expensive gift or perhaps any gift. 

Ask yourself if everyone on your list actually needs a gift?  Perhaps you could make a gift to a charity or ministry in someone’s name, instead of giving a gift.  About 7 years ago, my in-laws told their large family that they were going to use the money they’d used for Christmas gifts in the past, to support a mission project that Dad was involved in.  We felt good because we knew that those who were blessed through the mission project, needed the help much more than we family members did.  Could you do something like this?

Most importantly, focus on the MEANING of the Christmas season.  Picture the nativity scene with the poor shepherds and Mary and Joseph who were also poor.  The innkeeper was the only one with money, but was overwhelmed by his business.  The point is that Christmas is NOT primarily about money or things.  Everyone focused on the CHRIST-CHILD in the manger.  Christ-followers today need to focus on the same Christ-Child.

When your holiday financial burden is reduced, you’ll feel much more peace and joy.

Finding Light in Dark Times

We’re entering that season known as the holidays.  This season can be a hard time for those who are feeling down or depressed.  The days are shorter, and the nights are longer.  Holiday parties can mean feeling pressured to spend time with people that you’d rather not.  The music, festivities and joy can remind some that their lives are not joyful.  In short, the holidays can deepen one’s dark feelings.

Elijah is a good example of how God leads us to do simple things.  Elijah was running for his life, afraid and depressed, and God stepped in.  

“He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’  Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.  All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”   I Kings 19:4-5

Elijah awoke, ate and drank, and then slept again.  These simple things were God’s way of beginning to lead him out of his depression.  These first steps were simple ones: eat and rest. 

If you’re feeling down during this holiday season, you might want to check to see how you’re taking care of yourself.  Are you getting enough nourishment and rest?  These are simple, practical things that we can do to take care of ourselves, so that we might serve the One whose birth we are preparing to celebrate.