Last Christmas? What Stress?
Has the stress of last Christmas faded from your memory? I usually forget about it until the following year when a Christmas Day disaster puts a damper on my high expectations for a spectacular performance. And then I ask myself, Why is this happening to me again, and again? Why wasn't I better prepared this year for my extravagant traditional family get together? Why am I not relaxing in the shade of a palm tree on a tropical island - alone? According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity...is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; 
So, this Christmas is fast approaching. Gremlins of Christmases past are sleeping now, resting up for their next strike. Don't allow them to ruin yet another Christmas dinner party. The Christmas Stress Prevention Plan Here is a plan that will end Christmas Day stress once and for all. You will be so prepared for next Christmas that you will wonder what to do with your spare time. During the dinner preparations you will feel like a Queen directing and enjoying the festivities with your family and friends and your guests will enjoy themselves and compliment you on your amazing command performance. So let's get started... Why do we forget the stress of last Christmas? An interesting phenomenon about Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any traditional family get-together, is that not long after the event, the disappointments of failed expectations quickly fade from memory. That’s a good thing, right? Not necessarily. It is unhealthy to suppress your feelings… Did you feel defeated and exhausted after your last Christmas Day dinner party? Did you experience Boxing Day burnout? In spite of all the love and effort you poured into your dinner party planning, did those pesky little gremlins create unexpected havoc? Or, are you in denial? What disappointments? What disasters? My last Christmas dinner party was wonderful. Family all together – it only happens once a year. It was a huge success. Well worth the effort. Well, OK there were a few glitches, just simple oversights, nothing I couldn’t handle. Hostesses do not intentionally lie about how their last Christmas parties fared. During an emotional crisis, a gracious hostess usually keeps her inner raving lunatic to herself in the interest of her guests' comfort. So she stuffs her emotions and forges ahead to make the best of it. In most cases, the incident is quickly forgotten, but never adequately dealt with. A true story of gremlin interference... Here is one Christmas dinner party story that may trigger one of your own experiences. Watch the stress levels rise and fall as this hostess relates her experience. Last Christmas was great! We all had a great time. It was so nice to see my whole family together after such a long time. Then after pondering it for a moment she added, But, then there was the plum pudding thing. When I ignited my rum soaked plum pudding, a linen napkin caught fire. OMG! Now I remember. Everyone jumped up from the table to help extinguish the flames. It was awful. It was so scary. I didn’t even have a fire extinguisher. There wasn’t much damage, though. Everyone just sat back down and enjoyed the pudding – it was delicious. How's that for an emotional roller coaster ride? From fairly calm at the beginning, rising to a very high peak of physical tension (can you feel the tension?) as she relived the pain of her frightening event, then falling back down again to reasonably calm as she rationalized her experience and went back into denial. It runs in the family... Stress of last Christmas may run in your family. It may be your mother’s experience and her mother’s and so on. Do you recall a thought like “why is this happening to me again, and again?” Break the cycle now, for your sake and future generations. Inspiration for the Christmas Stress Prevention Plan… Last Boxing Day morning, I witnessed my dear friend and gracious hostess suffering from disappointment, exhaustion and burn out after her stoic performance on Christmas Day. 
Anne woke up on Christmas day morning in high spirits. She happily and merrily prepared and served an early brunch for her family. Later, during dinner preparations her high spirits began to decline. Gremlins began throwing her off track. Important food preparation tools went missing, and other such hindrances popped up unexpectedly. She shed a few tears a couple of times during the day, but she quickly wiped her eyes, regained her composure and put on her happy face. At the end of the day her guests left smiling and grateful for the fun time, a delicious traditional turkey dinner and the thoughtful gifts they had shared with each other. Boxing Day Burn Out The next morning, Anne looked defeated and exhausted. I was shocked and dismayed by this all-too-familiar replay of my own past Christmas disasters. How could this be happening? Shelves in bookstores are overflowing with helpful books, tips and techniques for hostesses to learn new and creative stress-free ways to entertain at traditional family events. A Google search on Boxing Day, 2008 revealed over 3 million hits for “stress Christmas”. In September 2008, the same search revealed 8,390,000 results. What is missing from all of this good available advice? Suddenly an idea flashed into my mind - it was so clear - the missing piece of this puzzle - unhealed emotional issues can shake even the most organized individuals. I knew the solution because I had learned how to calm down my inner emotional roller coaster. I had learned how to handle those pesky gremlins with kid gloves. Eureka! An easy meditation would do the trick. It worked for me; why wouldn't it work for everyone? Meditating during Christmas dinner preparations keeps you aware, alert and calm even in the midst of the most vulnerable situations. How can you meditate and work at the same time? No problem, you can use the Ishayas' open-eye meditation techniques, anywhere, anytime, during any activity. No kidding - it is very cool! Albert Einstein also said, No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. Are you ready to do things differently than you did last Christmas, and change your thinking to create a new and better experience?
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Next>>>January Stress Prevention Plan, Gremlin Havoc and Stress Prevention: January, February, March-August, September, October, November, December, Successfully Aborted Gremlin Report From Last Christmas? What Stress? To Planning a Christmas Party
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