Joy Let Loose

Do the holidays sometimes feel like they are “impending”?

Somehow, every year I  get shocked when Halloween decorations show up in the stores in July, and the Christmas trees are already selling in September. 

It drives me nuts, if I’m honest.

It makes me feel like I’m being rushed through the year, and I also find it leads me toward holiday burnout.
I mean, it creates in me a sense of adrenaline, and “I’ve got so much to do for Thanksgiving/Christmas and I need to start NOOOOOWWWWW.”

Then by the time the holidays actually arrive, I’m over it.

So I’ve needed to embrace important rhythms to help me not to get burned out. Because I don’t want to enter the holiday season tired, or resentful.I want to be able to embrace the whole meaning of it, and the important family time with peace, and hope, and joy.

5 ways to simplify the holidays and avoid burnout

• Start now by making the decision to keep a healthy pace this holiday season.

Since it’s the top of November, you have the opportunity right now to craft your schedule ahead of time in a way that serves your family well.

Make a list of the very top priorities for you (i.e. faith celebrations, family time at home, certain holiday gatherings) and get them on your calendar now. Decide that it’s ok to say “no” to the extra things that pop up. 

• Look for ways to combine multiple annual traditions into one.

If you are a DIY gift maker, and you also typically host a cookie exchange, and you always have a Christmas party with the girls, could you gather your friends together for a 3-in-one, where you make your gifts while the cookies are baking and you are drinking eggnog? We can find creative ways to simplify the holidays.

• Plan to do a personal or family Advent Study this year.

Advent is all about waiting. This year it begins on November 28th. It’s an inhale of breath, expecting and anticipating the arrival of Jesus. Advent can be a beautiful season of slowing down, acknowledging our need of a Savior, and prioritizing our faith.

The Adore Advent Study from Joyful Life Magazine is part of this beautiful Deluxe Winter Set, or can be downloaded on its own.

• Instead of giving dozens of gifts this year for Christmas, why not consider giving people the gift of an experience?

Think about the people you normally purchase gifts for (your own immediate family, your sister’s family, your brother’s family etc.). What lights them up? What pulls them together?
Find a gathering opportunity near them that they would love (an Escape Room, a concert, a scavenger hunt etc.) and purchase one gift card for the whole family. Create a fun video explanation or a card to send them explaining the joy you want for them to experience. Bam! Your shopping for them is done and you have saved yourself hours in the mall.

• Finally, and perhaps most significantly, start today to create a daily and weekly rhythm of rest.

Practice prioritizing a segment of each day, and at least one day each week to rest, recharge, and simply breathe. If you practice this with regularity in the early weeks of November, it can become an established habit that will be easier to maintain through the holiday weeks.

Let’s simplify the holidays

Instead of the holiday season “impending” this year, let’s be proactive to create the space we need for expectation. For anticipation. We have the opportunity right now to change the story we are writing. So let’s write a purposeful one.

If you share on socials about purposeful choices you are making this season, please hashtag it #yourpurposefulstory so I can see it!

Tell me in the comments: How are you living on purpose this season? 

Elizabeth JOY