Stress Wrapped Up In A Big Bow

Women's stress can skyrocket during the holidays. I think the holidays are difficult for many of us women. The reason...STRESS. Nothing says stress like the holidays. Women feel the pressure from others and more importantly themselves to make the holidays perfect.

The holiday traditions alone, are usually put on the woman to preserve. Women internalize pressure and often we don't even recognize it. Besides the normal load a woman carries in the day, she now has the extra load of shopping, decorating, preparing food, wrapping gifts, and balancing the budget with the extra costs the holidays bring.

It's no secret that the "most wonderful time of the year" isn't wonderful for everyone. We often see ourselves in some part of the family scene: the matriarch who wore herself thin cooking all day, only to feel unappreciated, or one of the relatives whose attempt to show appreciation or help backfires. OR...that perfect Christmas you have dreamed about...just doesn't happen. Then there is just the lost a woman may feel, because Christmas has changed over the years, and adult children don't come home, they have their own traditions now...so you are left only with your memories.

Getting caught up with unrealistic expectations to host the perfect family event, is usually impossible to achieve and incredibly stressful to strive towards. But, we women go for it!

Most families today have two working parents, and the domestic duties end up usually falling on the woman...and now the added duties of the holidays can make it so stressful for her...the woman.

Why do we know all this and yet we can't quit doing all of it? I think the real challenge for me, is simply accepting I am doing this to myself. Maybe I should quit watching all the Hallmark Christmas movies.

What if I truly accepted the challenge to accept what my limitations are, and to find what truly matters to me this Christmas. Is it really all the gifts, the perfect decorated home, the homemade goodies (that I made), the perfect Christmas setting with all of us gathered around the fireplace and the tree twinkling and that feeling of "AHHHHH the perfect Christmas". OR, is it simply the moments that happen, the glance of your husband actually looking like he appreciates the cookies he smells from the oven, or the grandchild wo comes up to you and says, "grandma I love you", or looking out the window and seeing fresh powder snow and knowing the heavens are real. That phone call when your adult child calls you and simply says "mom, I love you".

For me it is in the challenge of remembering what Christmas is really about, the birth of Jesus and the calm, brightness that event gave the world.

So, I challenge each and every woman out there, who is reading this to take the time for YOU. Hot chocolate alone with extra whip cream, a long bubble bath with candles, a quiet moment to simply reflect in all your blessings. Most importantly, simply look around you and capture those brief but such great moments, when you know in your heart that this is truly what Christmas is all about.

I WILL BE GETTING MY HOT CHOCOLATE READY WITH EXTRA WHIP CREAM...HOPE YOU DO TOO.