life-news-awareness-12.7.21

who else hates holiday traditions? 🙋

The holidays are here and much of this time involves participating in rituals and traditions we both love and hate... Last-minute shopping, familiar sibling arguments, predictable overeating and drinking...Truth be told (but it often isn’t!),We often start to resent our holiday traditions,like preparing Christmas dinner or wrapping presents...It’s easy to lose sight of the joy and pleasure of this time,especially in the cultural and familial rituals we take part in year in and year out.We are here to remind you that your family holiday traditions should be fun. Yes, FUN!So, if you’ve been doing the same rituals for years, it’s never too late to make a change. Here’s how you can make it happen:1. Traditions Are There for a Reason No matter how big or small, our traditions create meaning in our lives. By celebrating and honoring these occasions, they are made both sacred and familiar.Traditions can keep us grounded and connected – no matter how hectic life is or how much things change.They give us an opportunity to draw each other closer and share intimate and memorable experiences with our families and loved ones.Unfortunately, many of us bury the true meaning and value of rituals as we complain and rush through our to-do lists and holiday festivities.Why is that? In large part, holiday rituals were put in place before we had any say in them. So we feel obligated to participate in something we don’t think we have the authority to design ourselves.We “have" to go to our parents’ home for the annual Hanukkah party...We "have" to take the children to see Santa...We “must” set up a tree, light the candles, have gifts for everyone, spend time with a non-communicative (boring) uncle or a brother’s snarky 14-year-old kid...Whatever might be on our “have to-do” lists, we carry them around with the unspoken implication being...we have to participate whether we want to or not.But feeling resentment towards these rituals causes them to lose their magic2. Finding the Holiday MagicIf your holiday rituals have lost their meaning, now is the time to DO something about it.The first step is to admit your truth:What’s not working?Fess up how you really feel about the whole thing.Most people don’t realize this: YOU have the power to alter what is and create your own rituals as you see fit.You have this right whether it concerns major holidays or personal rituals that serve a purpose for you alone...

You got this!The Inner.U Team

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