EP 457 – Stress-Free Family Gatherings

Holidays provide opportunity for celebration, and they often bring about family tension. By determining your goals for the holidays and by staying in control of your reactions, you can help to ward off excessive stress and have a stress-free family gathering.

So here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Stress-Free Family Gatherings Week:

The first and most important step to a less stressful family gathering is to determine who pushes your buttons. Then understand what the person gets from being so difficult. Some want to feel more in control over what is happening around them. Some want to feel important and listened to, and some want to avoid outright conflict, but will act out their annoyance or disagreement through other negative behaviours.

By understanding what people expect to gain from using undesirable behaviours, we are in a much better position to deflect and defeat the difficult behaviour and move the person towards more acceptable ways of responding. Our job is to help these family members feel more in control, more listened to and more important.

My second tip is to avoid ‘holiday perfectionism’. Thinking, saying, or planning for the best holiday ever can lead to certain disappointment. Be okay with disorganization, conflict, and family chaos. Going with the flow will help to reduce your stress.

Finally, stop and be in the moment. When you start to feel the tension rising, take a moment to notice the wondrous sights, sounds, and smells around. Changing focus helps to reduce your stress level.

Wishing you a meaningful, joyful, and Stress-Free Family Gathering.

Remember, If you like today’s wellness tips, let me know. You can leave me a review on amazon or through your #alexa app.

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency during the holidays? Check out my holiday infographic at: https://worksmartlivesmart.com/mental-health-infographics/

or read a few of the articles posted at: https://worksmartlivesmart.com/?s=holiday+stress