by Craig Nybo

Created on: October 17, 2008   Last Updated: October 28, 2008

The holiday season brings joy and giving, but it also brings stress. Holiday stress can dampen your enjoyment of family and friends throughout Thanksgiving and Christmas. The truth is, you have the ability to fight against holiday stress and anxiety; you only have to recognize your stress eraser tools and use them.

The holiday season is so much about doing for others that we often forget about ourselves. By committing a little time to your own needs, you can make great strides in reducing anxiety during the holidays. So how is it done? Before the holidays even start, sit down and make a short list of five things you enjoy doing. At the top of your list, write items that you consider constructive. Reserve less constructive items for later in your list. A good holiday list might look like this: 1. Play the guitar, 2. Write a poem, 3. Call an old friend, 4. Go to a movie, 5. Listen to music.

Once you have written your list, keep it as a reminder. Remember that your list contains five tools you can use to erase stress and enjoy the holidays even more. How do you use your list? Simple. When you feel stress coming on during the holidaysand inevitably you willconsult your list, either mentally, or by taking it out and glancing at it. Select something from your list, preferably one of your constructive items, and tell yourself, when I get through this, I'm going to [fill in the blank]. You will find that even the prospect of rewarding yourself will instantly reduce your holiday stress and anxiety.

Consider an example. Suppose it is two days before Christmas and you still have a long list of people for which you need to purchase gifts. You are at the mall; the crowd is daunting; people are shouting and bumping into one another; they are cutting in line-showing their ruder sides. You can fight the stress by saying to yourself, when I get home from this crazy shopping center, I'm going to play the guitar for a half hour all by myself. Boom, your stress dial will instantly wheel down.

The holidays are wonderful. There is no reason why your festivities should be ruled by stress and anxiety. By taking a little back for yourself, you can remain fresh, composed, and loving towards your friends and family all the way through the hectic end of the year.

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