Animation
Merry Pre-Christmas, folks!
Yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be the most stressful. Sure, there are family members and friends to see and fattening food (mac and cheese!) to eat, but in addition to presents, sometimes there's drama lurking underneath the tree that calls for heavily spiked eggnog.
So, how do you survive holiday shenanigans and relatives who irk your nerves so much that your left eye starts to twitch? Here's a few tips:
1) Pray:
If you have a family to visit during Christmas that's a great thing, so thank God for that. But, sometimes things get heavy, so pray for peace, patience and understanding on both sides. Given that Jesus is supposed to be the reason for the season, prayer seems appropriate, don't ya think?
2) Establish some boundaries:
If you have the type of family that likes to use the holidays to talk about stuff that you don't want discuss, then man up and let folks know it's not going down like that this year. Even better, GENTLY let folks know that you don't want to talk about that thing when you get home, and that you WON'T talk about that thing while you're trying to enjoy the Christmas holiday. Now, wasn't that easy? On the other hand....
3) You can't make grown people do anything:
Let's face it, even when you ask people nicely not to do something (like bring up ish that you don't want to discuss), sometimes they're going to do it anyway. There's nothing you can do about this, so when this happens, let them talk. You don't have to engage in a conversation about it. If you do engage, and given the fact that you didn't want to talk about it in the first place, things are likely to go left very quickly. So, let them talk, nod your head, say "OK," remind them of the original boundary, and keep moving.
4) Change the way you respond
So let's say you engaged in conversation about stuff you didn't want to talk about and things are starting to go in a less than optimal direction. At this point conversations can escalate and the Grinch is within striking distance of stealing Christmas. What do you do? Bring it back, take a deep breath and change the way you're responding to the situation in a way that brings about peace. You're right, they're wrong, but who the heck cares?! It's Christmas, you don't have to go to work, and someone bought you a sweater. Whatever it is, it's not that serious, at least not during the holidays. However, if this doesn't work, then all you can really do is go back to the basics...
5) Food and liquor
You have friends back home. Call them, get out of the house, and go somewhere that has food and alcohol. You deserve a break, and your friends deserve entertaining stories about your family's special brand of crazy
I'm going to try and follow my own advice. Feel free to do the same :) Anywho, stay random and enjoy your holiday. As a gift, here's DMX rapping with glee about Rudolph. Why? Because it's Christmas! What! Holler :)
Jay
GREAT advice!!!
ReplyDelete