Avoiding mayhem during the holiday season

Nothing like the holiday season to bring out the latent perfectionist in all of us.

It’s only human to want to make great memories, but the reality doesn’t always meet the expectations we set, and that may leave people feeling a little “ho hum.”

‘Tis the season to spend, sip and socialize—for many of us, anyway. With competing demands on our time, the holidays can begin to feel like a pressure cooker.

“It’s an expectation that, come holiday time, you get together with friends and families, kind of whether you want to or not,” Steven Clarke, a local mental health counselor, said.

Clarke believes we could all be a whole lot jollier if we kept control over our season-ing.

“Not giving into the stigma and to the cultural pressure to do it a certain way. Do it in a way that works for you,” Clarke said.

Experts say that instead of getting stressed, the healthy thing to do is to flip the mindset.

Remind yourself to scale back or slow down. Lifestyle expert Jill Palmquist uses this as an example. If the “should” is “more is better,” you can shift your mindset to “enjoy this moment.”
Accepting that it’s enough.

“I hope there aren’t any kids listening because I think perfectionism is a little bit like Santa Claus. I don’t know that it really exists,” Palmquist said.

While it’s tempting to go overboard, the belief that you have to do everything can be a trap that you can flip.

“It’s like, ‘OK, I’m just not going to do it,’ and I think saying no is a muscle, and that we can let it get flabby or we get out of shape with it,” Palmquist said.

Clarke said it’s all about what nurtures your soul and remembering that the holidays are about joy.

As many as 89% of Americans surveyed said their stress is super-sized during the holidays, according to the American Psychological Association.