| Are you already beginning to panic with the holidays looming in the near distance? Do you get weary just thinking about holiday shopping, entertaining, the crowds and the expense? Or, have you learned to proceed peacefully through the holiday season using Feng Shui as your guide?
The holiday season does not need to be hectic, harried nor harassing. Ideally you should be able to enjoy the hustle and bustle while being in complete control of yourself and your surroundings. If just the thought of the holiday season leaves you annoyed, aggravated and stressed out, Feng Shui just might be your answer.
7 Steps to Help You Reduce Holiday Stress
STEP 1. Stop procrastinating, worrying and fretting: begin now! In the world of Feng Shui this would fall into the category of uncluttering your world. Now is the time to organize your thinking, develop your plans and get the process rolling. Temporarily put aside things that can wait until after the holidays so they don’t silently nag you for attention while you are busy doing those things that are necessary for you to have a happy, successful holiday season.
STEP 2. Make lists today or this weekend to get you on track and keep you there. Create a gift list and carry it with you at all times so you can refer to it at a moments notice and purchase items as you see them. You will save time. You will also save money because you will be less likely to do impulse shopping which is costly. As you check off each purchase your stress level will turn into a smile. Make a food list and buy those extra things that are not perishable over the next several weeks. Place perishables on a “buy when needed” list that includes the date item needed.
STEP 3. Unclutter your home now so there is ample room for holiday flowers, garland and decorations. Get rid of all of the stacks of stuff you’ve accumulated over the last 12 months – don’t just move it but actually look at it and either file it, store it or get rid of it. If you haven’t used it in 12 months do you really need to keep it? The more clutter free your home is the more enjoyable and calm your holidays will be.
STEP 4. Determine today, right now, what the single most important thing is you want to do or person you want to see during the holidays that will make your holidays perfect. Put this one thing at the very top of your to-do list, and then do it first. Everything else should take second place to that one thing. If you do just that one thing and accomplish few others you will feel your holiday season was a complete success and filled with joy.
STEP 5. Fill your kitchen with aromas and scents that fondly remind you of Christmas’s Past such as home baked goods and mulled cider or wine. They will provide you a sense of love and security through your past memories of family and friends gathered together. It doesn’t matter whether you are a gourmet chef or never set foot in the kitchen. What matters are the feelings evoked by the fragrances. Use scented candles if necessary to create the feelings of abundance and cheer. Burn those candles daily in a safe container.
STEP 6. Play the music of the season. Begin today if you like. The holiday season is filled with some of the most joyous uplifting and encouraging music ever composed yet it is relegated to a short few 30 days in our calendar year. Play it while making your lists, while uncluttering your home, wrapping gifts, calling friends, entertaining and preparing those special foods. Allow those wonderful sounds to permeate your heart and soul. Stress is nowhere to be found when the heart is joyful.
STEP 7. Do something kind for yourself. So often you think of everyone else during this season but forget to take care of yourself. You need to be nurtured and receive love right along with all of those other special people in your life. Buy yourself a gift, spend one day at a day spa, sit down and watch a favorite holiday movie, read old time holiday classic stories to the children, take a long hot shower. Do something that will bring you joy while the hectic holiday season races by. Reflect on the goodness of your life, meditate, and be grateful for all things present and past. Look to the future and dare to dream.
Stress abounds during such a busy time of the year. Everyone is in a hurry and tends to have a short fuse including family members, friends and your boss so stress levels go up and up.
Eliminate stress for good making this a hassle-free season for you by uncluttering both your surroundings and thinking. Then make lists so you can be organized, efficient and utilize your time and money very effectively. Following these few steps will make your holidays less stressful and much more joyful.
© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2007
Pat Heydlauff, President of Energy-by-Design (www.energy-by-design.com) and Feng Shui expert, is a consultant, speaker, columnist and award-winning artist. She has been consulting with individuals, families, and companies since the early 1990’s, with clients ranging from California to Florida. In addition, she speaks at corporate and organizational functions, and gives seminars to enhance productivity. Pat Heydlauff can be reached at (561) 799-3443, or at balancingenergy@energy-by-design.com.
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