Christmas: Yes, You Can

This Christmas has arrived. The good news is that the weeks of anticipation and dread are over. Now it’s just a matter of doing the day itself.

Whether you decorated or didn’t, bought presents or didn’t, baked the goodies or didn’t, you’re doing it right for you this year.

If you accepted an invitation or elected to stay home, you’re doing the best you can do for this year. No matter if this is your first Christmas or 15^th or somewhere in between, I hope you’ll have your own back.

You’re simply doing the best you can to navigate a life that feels, in many ways, like it has ended. It’s okay if others don’t understand. It’s okay if you don’t understand it, either.

In the spirit of greater understanding, I have a little gift for you.

The gift I want to offer you is one of an experimental mindset.

If you take on an experimental mindset, you’re going to learn more about what is best for you and apply those lessons next year. The experimental mindset means that you don’t judge yourself. You simply observe how things go, how you feel, and take note. It might sound something like this:

I said I would go to the party, but don’t have the energy.

I’m having a difficult morning and that’s to be expected.

This is the part when his absence is so glaring.

I noticed myself laughing and enjoying the moments.

Think of yourself as a scientist, simply gathering information. Scientists don’t judge and they don’t have preconceived notions. Instead, they simply gather information from a place of curiosity and observation.

My hope for you is that you’ll approach this Christmas in observation without judgement. That you’ll use conversation stoppers as needed. That you’ll have your own back about the decisions you will make. And that you will allow yourself to feel the range of human emotions, from difficult to pleasant. Because that is, after all, the most authentic human experience.

Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers this Christmas, and always.

If facing another holiday seems impossibly difficult, I understand. My coaching program called Life Reconstructed is designed to help face the difficult days with a plan that works for you. If you’re ready to start the New Year by making bigger strides in your healing, simply apply here and we’ll see if it’s a fit.