With Thanksgiving behind us, the Christmas frenzy is now in full swing. Since I will not have any playoff football to look forward to this year (being that I am a Jacksonville Jaguars fan), I have begun to embrace the upcoming holidays in its place. For many of us the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is filled with frantic gift hunting for friends and relatives, often leading us to brave the chaotic crowds in department stores and shopping malls. Personally these high pressure weeks often leads to a great deal of stress after you factor in the gift hunting with traveling to see friends and relatives. I have found that it is important for me to find small amounts of time that I can set aside for myself, mostly in an effort to not let myself slip into insanity.

I find these tips especially helpful when you are in a situation where far too many family members are packed into the same house for several days. First I like to find a way to get some time to myself. This can be achieved by taking the dog for an extended walk to clear my head or by finding another activity such as reading a book for awhile. These both achieve the same goal of mentally removing yourself from the possibly chaotic situation that you may find yourself in.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my family and I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate being able to spend time with them during these holidays. However, as is the case with many families, getting a large number of us packed into a small area can lead to a certain amount of "entertainment" to put it lightly. I like to consider such times a blessing, since I know there are those who don't have the good fortune to be able to spend the holidays with loved ones. Which leads me to my next point: volunteering. Volunteering is another excellent way to spend your time during the holidays, as it is so important to give back to your surrounding community. I will elaborate on this further in my next post.

Til next time!