Select celebration patterns with care. Remember your past and bring it into the present.  Your “treasure box of memories” will contain pain as well as warmth and joy and it offers you a personalized source of depth and richness.

Repeat a tradition you’ve always kept.

Ask others about their rituals, pick one that’s new for you, and try it out.

Share your traditions with us in the comment box below.

Give yourself permission to feel as you do.  Listen to yourself.  Feel what you feel, not what you “think you are supposed to feel,” or “wish you felt.”  When you feel down, feel down.  It won’t last forever.  When you feel excited, go ahead and enjoy it.

Trying to manipulate your feelings or act contrary to them will distance you from yourself.

How do you handle this one?  Please share your comment with us.

Ask for what you want. Don’t hint.  Don’t wait for someone to read your mind.  Don’t expect others to guess what will satisfy you.

Speak up.  If you’re lonely, ask someone to share your celebration – or ask to share in someone else’s.  If you love surprises, let people know.  If you need time alone in the midst of togetherness, say so.

If you can’t get what you want, want what you get, it’s much more satisfying than wishing for the impossible.

Please share what you want with us by making a comment.

Know what goodies will fill you.  What kind of contact will be fulfilling for you?  What kind of gift exchange will be meaningful to you?  What do you need to help your heart and soul feel refreshed?

If you know clearly what you want, it’s easier to choose activities that are likely to satisfy your desires.

Please make a comment and let me know.

Holidays can be filled with lots of ups and downs, times of panic and peace, and full of potential for personal renewal for the body, mind and especially the spirit.

Each year, I go into the season with one foot on the break and the other on the gas.  What a perfect way to get stuck, eh?

Luckily, Whole Person Associates, my awesome publisher, helps me find meaning from this time of the year and handle the stress of it.  They have published a wonderful booklet called Kicking your Holiday Stress Habits. It’s excellent and you can get your copy here.  You’ll benefit from it now and year after year.

Over the next 11 days, I will be sharing some things that have really helped me.   My heartfelt thanks go out to the wonderful folks at Whole Person Associates for reminding me (and you) of the wellness way of enjoying the holidays.

Happy Holidays to One and All!