STRESS Take 2

I have stress, plenty of it as I have ranted before, but I realized that really none of my stress is Holiday related. At least not directly Holiday related. I love the time that starts with Thanksgiving leads to Christmas and wraps up with New Years! I love getting people presents, attending parties, getting Christmas Cards (but never writing them…I should work on that) and of course going back to the frosty lily pad of WI to be with family. My Christmas shopping is down to just minor stuff, my flight is booked and was only kind of expensive in stead of killer, I have a nice manageable amount of Holiday parties to attend, presents to look forward too and best of all every member of the Frogger Family will be home…and that is a rare event indeed! I'm starting to think this makes me an oddity at this time of year when almost everyone else is deep in Holiday heck.

Did I mention that I still have stress, and plenty of it? Yet somehow the Holiday’s do not mess with my head all that much. Buying presents does highlight the BIGGEST stressor, but I’ve found that can be dealt with too. Other aspects of my life mess with my stresses a lot more than the Holidays. A few years ago I had the honest discussion with myself…why are you stressing over the Holidays? You can’t make stress just go poof, but you can reframe it, so over the Holidays I just reframe it! Stress is life, but this brief window of time in life is supposed to highlight love, giving, thankfulness and family, so I focus on that and it helps put the stress in perspective. Let’s face it; all of my stressors will be around for a while, so freaking out at this moment will just add to their power. I’m no Super Zen FroggerGirl and I fail at this positive thinking sometimes, but that’s to be expected, because I’m human and we are equally good at failing as we are at succeeding. So long as I keep trying that means I’m moving forward and that eventually some stress will fade and other will come-up.

Now the key for me is just remembering to keep this frame of mind when the Holidays are over. I think I can do that, but there will surely be lapses thanks to good old human nature! There are times I wish this kind of thing wasn't so exhausting!