Using gratitude to transcend holiday stress

December can bring about a slower place at work and hopefully, some much-deserved time off. It also tends to be a busy time of year in our personal lives, we make plans to visit loved ones (if we can), we catch up on activities we have been deferring like home projects, and there is also preparing for seasonal gifting and feasting. 

There is a lot going on, and despite our best intentions, stress can creep up on us. Practicing gratitude can be a potent way to decrease our stress by improving our relationships, as well as our physical and mental health. Robert Emmons Ph.D., regarded as a leading expert on gratitude, describes two core components to deepening gratitude: 

1. Affirmation of goodness: recognize that there is goodness in the world. Specifically, gifts and benefits that we have received. 
2. Identifying where gratitude comes from: acknowledge that these gifts and benefits come from outside ourselves, from other people or a higher power.  

Maybe take a moment right now to think about a recently experienced gift, or a benefit, given to you that represents goodness in your life?

Here are some other tips to help minimize stress and get more joy out of the season: 

• Avoid people who stress you out by setting limits and boundaries.
• Think ahead to the situations that can trigger stress and plan for how you can minimize contact.
• Say no or not right now to the things you can’t do. If these situations can’t be avoided, plan for what you will need to restore and repair, and give yourself permission to engage in self-care.  
• Put things in perspective and reframe stressors from negative experiences to consider where there is learning, growth, or to make space to reflect on what really matters to you.  
• Use healthy coping strategies like exercise, meditation, and rest to counter overindulging or overspending.   
• Make a budget for any holiday-related spending and stick to it. Firmly limiting shopping time can help with this. Extending the shopping season may increase impulse spending. If your family and friends engage in gift-giving, are there ways to simplify like drawing names or narrowing your lists to feature, for example, only local items or memorable experiences? 
• Last suggestion: take a look at the digital gratitude wall that people have contributed to over the Thrive Month, for another dose of gratitude! 

Gratitude might feel harder, or maybe less natural for some of us especially in face of ongoing impacts of climate change, injustices and the pandemic. The good news is that research suggests we may be able to actually train ourselves to become more grateful as we navigate these challenges — and that’s something we can all be grateful for.

Whatever it is that you do to celebrate, reflect and connect, we wish you well over the holiday season!  

Sources: 

https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/coping-with-holiday-stress 

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good 

Emmons, R. A (2007). Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt