Can you believe the Holiday Season is already upon us? As we move into this season that is supposed to be cheerful and joyous many of us experience a great deal of stress.

Instead of experiencing the holidays as the fun filled ‘most wonderful time of the year’ that it’s advertised to be, we can get caught up in the, oftentimes unrealistic, expectations we set for ourselves (or feel from others) and end up losing sight of any joy to be had throughout the entire experience.

As we move closer to Thanksgiving next week I suggest we take some quite time and take out our journals. Jot down all the things you love about the Thanksgiving holiday; Maybe it’s getting together with your family or cooking a big feast for your loved ones.

Then make a list of things that you don’t like about the holiday; maybe it’s getting together with your family or cooking a big feast!

After that quick assessment can you come up with three things that you could plan for that would make the holiday more enjoyable?

If we can be proactive and actually make a plan for some things that we know we will enjoy we are going into the holiday with intention and purpose and stand a better chance of living from a place of happiness instead of overwhelm.

When those stressors do come at us we have a few tools already put in our toolbox to combat them with joy, cheer, and peace!