Published on: December 9th, 2011
Let’s be real—aside from the typical requests of “spending time with family”, “world peace”, and in some cases, “my two front teeth”, all anyone really wants for Christmas is to make it through the holidays with at least a shred of their sanity still intact.
The holidays can be super stressful. There’s a lot of potential to totally screw everything up—which, knowing that alone, is enough to keep you stressed for weeks.
You could completely destroy your family’s traditional Christmas dinner. You could spend weeks searching for the perfect gift for your sister, only to get it back in different wrapping paper as your next birthday present. You could offend the in-laws and you could blow Santa’s cover in front of all of the little rosy-cheeked half-pints in your family, ruining Christmas for them forever.
Seriously. This stuff happens.
So in an effort to stay as relaxed as possible, and keep the highest level of sanity during this stressful time, I’m going to share my stress-free holiday tips with you. I hope they help.
And as a contingency plan, it might be best to scout out which one of your neighborhood bars will be open on Christmas Day—in case all of the scenarios mentioned above actually do happen…
1.) Acupuncture
Most people that know me know that I’m pretty much deathly afraid of needles. Big ones, small ones, sometimes I don’t even like the pointy ends of tweezers because they remind me of needles. So when I was recommended acupuncture as a way to help de-stress, I was super skeptical. I might have cried a little. Fortunately for me, I was put into some pretty good hands, and those itsy needles don’t scare me at all anymore! And, my wonderful acupuncturist offers a sliding scale payment option. So the potential damage to your already over-used wallet is super minimal.Check outBoulder Community Acupuncture in North Boulder. They’ll help you de-stress in your not-so-finest hours and make all of your relatives and houseguests super jealous at how calm and composed you are.
2.) Get outside
Seriously. Nothing takes away stress like a little fresh air and a nice walk/hike/bike ride/some snowshoeing or shredding a little gnar in the mountains. I’m not going to lie to you though—it’s going to be cold. So to make this tip an effective stress-relieving endeavor, be sure to throw on some layers, don’t forget the gloves and spend a blissful hour outside… not thinking about the things that you’ve already screwed up, or could possibly screw up this holiday season. Check out this map to find a trail near you.
3.) Retail Therapy
You’ve already bought presents for your parents, your siblings, your co-workers, you great uncle, your teacher from the fifth grade and the girl whose name you can never remember that lives next door. It’s time to take a mini break from shopping for others and spend a little money on yourself. In order to keep this tip stress-free on your conscious, be sure to shop locally. You’ll be doing your city and the economy a giant favor– and doing the right thing makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
4.) Don’t Turn on the Radio
Trust me. You’ll thank me for this one. The second you turn on the radio, some joyful Christmas song will start streaming through the speakers and you’re going to lose it. You’re going to snap. You’re going to throw the burnt mashed potatoes that you made for Christmas dinner all over the kitchen and you’re going to start tearing ornaments and lights off the beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Keep yourself sane right up until the end of the holidays by listening to your iPod and those antique music discs called CD’s. If by mistake, you do turn the radio on, turn it to a rap station immediately. Rappers are too busy rapping about bling bling and weapons and stuff to make up any Christmas rhymes.
Good luck out there, Everyone!