None of us are whole creatures, but some among us are truly walking wounded. Among other challenges, you may be facing the holidays with grief, depression or anxiety, disability or illness, major life changes, loneliness, unemployment, financial struggles, marital strife, or problems with children. For you, the usual holiday stressors like family visits, elaborate meals, gift exchanges, and even well-worn traditions or home-decorating can become emotional minefields, fraught with potential for overwhelming fear, sadness, or anger. Like the holidays themselves, some sources of stress are unavoidable, but you may have more room than you think to maneuver and face them while avoiding others entirely....
The holidays are here...breathe
I once worked in an office where someone regularly (at least once or twice a month, all year long!) emailed us with the days, hours, and minutes to go until Christmas. Now I loved this person (and Christmas), but I usually deleted those emails unread. I do not dread the holiday season, yet I do not live in unending anticipation of its coming.
Heedless of my feelings though, like a force of nature it comes...