The holidays are a lot of fun for some, but for others they can be a source of a lot of stress and anxiety.

Below are three tips that may help to mitigate some stress that you might feel during holidays.

Its okay to set boundaries with people in your life. Create clear expectations of what you want. The boundaries can be about conversation topics, time spent with certain individuals, or even people allowed at your house.

Boundaries keep you safe and comfortable whether that person is family or not.

This year your holidays might look a little different. Allow yourself the time to grieve the different. Your kids and your family don’t need to always see you pretending to be happy. Its okay that sometimes its hard to be thankful, even when you still have many blessings.

Its also okay to grieve if you are missing someone new, or even someone who has been gone a while. Acknowledging that you miss them can help others in your family expression their emotions and feel more comfortable in their grief, as well.

2020 has been tough on everyone. Maybe you lost loved ones, maybe you lost your job or a large part of your income. Maybe you haven’t experienced these, but you are struggling with the shut downs and mental effects of COVID 19. Honestly, the reason that you are struggling isn’t super important.

What you deserve to know is your struggle is valid. Your feelings matter. One small thing to work on for Christmas and New Years is to be thankful for even the small things.

Do you have COVID? Be thankful for the extra time with your family.

Even the smallest of things can be big wins with 2020.

Have a wonderful, hopefully less stressful, holiday season.

Merry Christmas

Lexie.