Handling Frustrations Around the Holidays

By: Heather Meeker Green

This time of year can be particularly stressful for many people. Maybe you are trying to get your work done and meet year-end goals before the office closes down. Perhaps your co-workers are already on vacation and you’re doing double duty. Likely you are busy juggling work along with holiday shopping, special events and trying to find time to get it all done.  Or travel delays, long lines, or the exhaustion of heading out of town has created tension. Sometimes this is a sad time of year for people who are not with family or have lost loved ones. Or possibly you are tired of the commercialism of the season or the tension to find the perfect gifts.

Whatever your situation, the stress is creating an impact on you, your health, and your accomplishments. And while you may not have directly experienced some of the extreme political conflicts that we lived through in 2014, it is important to find ways to cope, empower yourself, and bounce back from the stresses you do face.

To that end, we offer a recap of some of our best practices handling or preventing tensions around the holidays.

• Become mindful of mindfulness

• Use your time wisely

• Develop an Olympic mindset

• View the situation you are in with objectivity

• Examine your relationship status and build trust

• Practice gratitude

• Jump on a path to personal effectiveness

• Actively manage conflicts that arise

Wishing you resilience in these trying times!