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The Holidays You’ll Never Forget. Balancing Work & Life Stress. Preparing for a Holiday Season that We’ll Never Forget by reframing our stress Breaking the Chains Forged in Life Reawakening the Joy Inherent in the Holidays Valuing Relationships Writing a Good Ending to our “Christmas Carol”
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The Holidays You’ll Never Forget Balancing Work & Life Stress
Preparing for a Holiday Season that We’ll Never Forget by reframing our stress • Breaking the Chains Forged in Life • Reawakening the Joy Inherent in the Holidays • Valuing Relationships • Writing a Good Ending to our “Christmas Carol” • Celebrating a Holiday Time of Miracle Transformation • Honoring the Holidays in our Hearts All Year Long
Stressful Distorted Thinking/Self-Talk • All-or-Nothing Thinking • Overgeneralizations • Mental Filter • Discounting the Positive • Jumping to Conclusions (Mind Reading, Fortune Telling) • Magnification or Minimization • Emotional Reasoning • “Should” Statements • Labeling • Blaming
Preparing for a Holiday that We Never Forget • Relax with Mind Gems • Encourage sleep with I See…(5x), I Hear…(5x), I Feel(5x) I See…(4x), I Hear…(4x), I Feel(4x) I See…(3x), I Hear…(3x), I Feel(3x) I See…(2x), I Hear…(2x), I Feel(2x) I See…(1x), I Hear…(1x), I Feel(1x) Repeat as needed
Breaking Chains Forged in Life: The Ghost of Christmas Past Some Humbugs that chain us include: 1. Past, unprocessed or unforgiven hurts 2. Loneliness 3. Unrealistic expectations fueled by commercialism, especially from our children, leading to financial pressures. 4. Overcrowded schedules that lead to family and work tensions.
Breaking the Chains that Bind Us 1. Examine expectations: What do our actions tell us is really our “business”? What are we expecting in life? How do we meet our needs and still be in service to others? 2. Explore ways to grieve losses and regrets, forgive and reconcile hurts, and meet needs in healthy ways. a. Name what happened b. Feel the feelings c. Given the reality of what happened, how can I make life work now? d. Given the reality of what happened, what’s the bigger picture? e. How can I write a new ending to my story?
Breaking the Chains that Bind Us 3. Evaluate stressors, examine ways to simplify schedules & take better care of self: a. What is important to keep? b. What can be let go? c. What can be done later? 4. Ask “Reality” Questions to help focus; balance with “Life Mission.” a. (Considering what I am here on earth to do,)What do I want for me? b. What am I doing to get what I want? c. What might be some better choices? d. What am I willing to do to get what I want? e. When will I do it?
Steps to Reawakening Joy • Face painful memories supported by someone you can trust realizing that healing is a process. • Choose to include memories that bring joy. • Be intentional about making new, happy memories to cherish. • Invite someone to share the joy of the season with you.
Valuing Relationships, especially in the Holidays • To have a Holiday Season that we never forget, we need to be intentional about making our relationships a higher priority than our possessions and achievements. • True riches are not found in the stingy accumulation of wealth, but in the extravagant investment of love in other’s lives • We have riches that have nothing to do with finances. • We store up treasures that last by giving ourselves to others. • We don’t have to be rich to be thankful for all our “riches” and to “bless” others. • Give the gift that money can’t buy; give yourself
Writing a Good Ending to your “Christmas Carol”: Embracing the Hope • Are we doomed by our failures and the pain that others have caused us? • If we change the direction of our lives, can our futures be different?
The hope that his future could be different began to transform Scrooge • Scrooge had to look at that he invested in things, not in people. • Scrooge began to see that he had made a living, not a life. • Scrooge came to see that he had become chained to his own selfish ambitions, and had forgotten how to celebrate the joy of life.
Writing a New Ending to your Story • What are you willing to do to make sure your Holidays will have a good ending? • If things stay as they are now, how will it end? • If you could write a different ending, how will it look?
Celebrating a Miracle Transformation • When we see where our lives are going, it motivates us to change direction. • Transformation happens as we become aware of the mercy and we wake up to it with humility. • Awakening to the “Mercy” with humility begins to change our hearts.
Honoring the Holidays in our Hearts All Year Long • Allowing our Past to be transformed by healing • Focus on our “Mission” in the Present. • Keep open to Sacred “Direction” in the Future.