The Holidays are upon and all around are signs letting us know ” Tis the Season.” What exactly does that mean? The implication is for us to be happy, prosperous, spend time with friends and family and to be healthy, which are wonderful concepts to associate with the holiday season. However, for many it means “Tis the Season” to increase financial strain by spending time in shopping malls trying to find the “perfect” gift for a cousin you have not seen since childhood, or trying to find the “perfect” gift for the person who has everything…Tis the season to buy presents. It also means it is the busiest, and not to mention the most expensive, time of year to be traveling to spend time with friends and/or family (which can be wonderful, stressful or both!). It also means someone will spend a great deal of time in the grocery planning to cook a wonderful meal that takes a week to prepare and cook and 1/2 hour to devour, before heading off to the couch for a nap! Finally, last but not least, the ever looming “New Years Resolution.”
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the holidays but am also aware of how stressful they can become. So, over the next 5 or 6 weeks I will be writing what my sister calls ” Helpful Hints from Helouise” (even though we have NO idea who Helouise is) to help manage some areas of the holidays that may become stressful. I will cover things like budgeting, balancing family time, family dynamics, how to manage stress, how to improve family and friends relationships and thus, enjoy your holidays. Here’s to a less-stressful holiday season!
Lisa Beilman is an Orlando Counselor who practices No Judgement Counseling and specializes in couples counseling, stress management, career counseling, elder counseling, conflict resolution, Facebook counseling and family counseling.