Preparing for a Joyful Holiday Season – TPW472

In this episode we’ll talk about preparing for joy in the upcoming holiday season, all while rair jordan 1 low flyease nike air jordan 14 nike jordan series 06 nike air jordan 1 elevate low nike air max 90 futura air jordan retro 1 mid casual shoes air jordan 1 element nike jordan zoom air cmft affordable air jordan affordable air jordan jordan 5 air jordan 11 cmft low nike jordan series 06 jordan 5 nike air jordan ma2 vast grey emaining productive and keeping our most important priorities in mind. How can we reduce our stress and increase our joy this holiday season? I think I mentioned in an episode early this year (actually late last year!) that my word for this year is joy. It’s something I’ve tried to turn my attention to throughout the year, reminding myself to look for and intentionally cultivate joy. I’ve been thinking about joy in the context of the coming year-end holidays--for our family, that mostly means Thanksgiving and Christmas, but for you that might include Hannukah, Advent, Las Posadas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, or others. Whatever holidays you celebrate during this time, we all look forward to them with anticipation and expectation of joyful gatherings, but the year-end holidays can also be stressful, especially if family situations are complicated or, like me, the last weeks of the year are also a very busy time in your job or career. I was surprised by one article I read that cited a study that found “49% of Americans report feeling anxious during the holidays, with two in five saying it negatively impacts their mental health. Their biggest concerns include inflation, gift shopping, and dysfunctional family dynamics.”  So in looking ahead to this time, I started thinking about, and then researching, ways to minimize the stress and amplify the joy of this year-end holiday season. Preparing for a joyful and productive holiday season can be especially important for women who often shoulder a significant portion of the holiday planning and organizing responsibilities. 1. Set the foundation for a joyful holiday season The importance of mindset and intention-setting for a joyful holiday season.  Like any time or year, it’s important to remind ourselves that we and how we feel are not at the mercy of our circumstances. Our emotions--whether joy or anxiousness or anger or any other--result not from our circumstances, but from what we think about our circumstances. We can choose our thoughts and manage our minds. It’s not easy--certainly not for me--but it can be done. Start now to practice both awareness and intentionality in this area: * Be aware of your feelings.  * Remember it's not a matter of right or wrong; they just are.