Stress-Free Holiday Tips!!

These tips are so fabulous and really help put this fun, busy, crazy, love-filled time into perspective.  I found these on Darren Hardy's Facebook page a few years back (if you don't follow him please go and do it now).  He's truly life-changing.  His book the Compound Effect will change your life!!  Truly, go to his page and like it.  Here's 10 tips along with my editorial comments of course! 

10:  YES!!!  Get in a workout at least every couple of days!!  My goal is at least 5 days a week, but if you get in a good sweat session you let go of stress, feel better, clear your mind, get some extra energy and you feel crazy good about yourself!  Earn that fudge!

9:  We do this a lot!  All of our family lives close by, within 30 minutes or so from one another, but we still love hosting at our house.  Even my girls love that we host.  Yes, it's often more work, yes you have to clean and cook and be a good host, but we fill our home with love and laughter and memories.  Get everyone to bring a dish, BYOB and it makes it a bit easier.

8:  I so love this one!  It's hard to do, but you really don't have to do everything you are invited to do.  If you want to do it, if it sits in your heart right and you want to be there, you aren't going to do it because you are expected to, or supposed to or it's the right thing to do then DO IT!  But if you feel that you are obligated to do something or expected to do something give it a second thought.  This time of year is about doing things you love with those you love and if you don't love it, then why do it?

7:  Aah, yes!!  I've said this to myself just last night after I had a grumpy moment or two.  I was so busy doing who knows what around the house getting ready for Petra's party with friends this weekend and Sophia needed my help with her Oreo Truffle Pops she was making for school. I soooo wanted to say "not right now" but then realized what will she remember most?  Me frantically running around doing a zillion things and always have a sparkly, clean kitchen or me spending time with her, stopping what I'm doing and helping her finish them together?  It was time with her.  My girls won't always be with me, living with me, so I better make the most of my moments.  I then had to be reminded of this again later in the evening when things were a mess upstairs.  "Christina, does it really matter?  Really?"

6:   This is one my hubby always says to me:  "Take everything one day at a time.  Why are you already stressing about that?  We have 5 days until that happens, plenty of time!"  :)  Just handle what you need to handle each day and it will all come together.  Don't look at the ENTIRE huge list.  Just break it down to each day and accomplish that.  Little baby steps to take out the overwhelming feeling.

5:  Oooh!  I like this one. I have often thought of things to do differently or things we did this year that I want to do again.  Like how I decorated the house or who I want to see, or a new way to draw names with the family that I heard about, a fun new tradition you'd like to start, or start adding to your Christmas card list. 

4:  This is a good one!  I love that the girls are old enough to help me with this and do some of my baking for me.  They absolutely love it and it's something they will feel responsible for and feel good about doing and helping me. I just wish they got the cleaning up part down.  :)

3:  It's my 80/20 Rule!  Don't give up and throw in the towel!  It's not the time to abandon all your nutrition goals.  You CAN have your cake and eat it too.  Eat good, whole, nutritious, clean foods 80% of the time and allow for 20% to be your indulgences.  You can go to the holiday cocktail party, you can have a piece of that fudge or that egg nog.  Just don't do it every night! 

2:  This is a hard one.  Stop taking myself and things I can't control so seriously.  Sing it out loud: "Let it go, Let it go!"  

1: Yes!  The more you are grateful for all that you have in your life, all of your blessings, the more you will notice that you have.