A Few Holiday Assertions to Remind You ...
The FANTASY of a PERFECT Holiday can ruin the enjoyment of a wonderful time.
Holiday Rights
Too often, when the demands of the Holiday Season overwhelm us, we forget that we have the need to assert our own right to self-care. In this time of the year it is useful to remind yourself that:
You have the right to act in ways that promote your enjoyment of the season, to choose the activities that are important to you and leave the rest alone. You don't have to do everything, no matter whose idea it is.
You have the right to treat yourself with respect, to rest well, to eat and drink with concern for the well being of your own body, no matter what "treats" are pressed upon you.
You have the right to say no to anything you don't want to do or to give and not feel guilty.
You have the right to experience and express your feelings. If your memories connected to the
Holiday Season are painful or difficult, you have the right to cry, to talk to someone, to take the time to honor your experience.
You have, as always, the right to take time to slow down and think. The demands of others and of situations may press harder and faster on you at Holiday time. Perhaps you can take extra time to make your choice, your decision.
You have the right to change your mind, to build flexibility into all your choices, even to break a promise, (with appropriate apology.)
You have the right to ask for what you want. YES, especially now. If you are lonely, you have the right to ask for company, if you are tired you have the right to ask for help.
You have the right to do less than you are humanly capable of doing; much less. If you are just fed up with trying to do too much you have the right to stop.
You have the right to make mistakes, trying too hard to get it right, trying to please everyone, is one of the great Holiday Miseries.
You have the right to feel good about yourself, to enjoy this Season of the year in the ways that please you best, even when those don't meet anyone else's ideas about how it should be done.
Michaele P. Dunlap Psy.D.