The Holidaze are upon us once again. It’s a mixed bag for many of us. Whether you have a large family, a small family or consider your few friends your family, the holiday season comes loaded with all kinds of emotions.
This can be either overwhelming or underwhelming and it looks so different for us all. Maybe you have children around you and the idea of snow and gifts is a thing. Maybe your family is far away and you have to figure out what you may be doing and whom with. Maybe you don’t want to participate as that one family member is always somehow “on your case” even after reminding them multiple times that things are different for you today. Maybe you have strained relationships or are wishing you had a different situation. This can be difficult for the people we serve, our loved ones and likely ourselves, regardless of our relationships.
At the end of the day, we have ourselves. What kind of holiday season would I like to have? What and who might be involved? Am I involved? Do I want to engage more or do I want to take a step back this year? My wellness and recovery are up to me and sometimes I too need to be reminded of this.
As I was on a call this morning, the person on the other line asked me if I had eaten a lot of turkey this past weekend. I stopped and realized that I actually had not eaten any. I read books and relaxed, spending time with my son and some with my partner.
I got out the 12 inch holiday tree as well as the rocker cow who plays jingle bells on the electric guitar and placed it up on the mantle.
I’m sharing this all to say that I am keeping it simple this year. I am removing myself from any type of personal holiday expectations. I’m not giving any of them out and I am not collecting any either. My hopes for myself are that I will go easy on myself and take care of myself and my needs.
As individuals in the helping professions, we often forget about ourselves. Self care is a year round essential. What does this look like for you during this season?
What will your holiday story sound like ?
Are you a Certified Addictions Recovery Coach (CARC)? If so, you know what the multiple choice test for it looked like. Coaching is a practice. There is difficulty in measuring this skillset via a multiple guess test as it can not possibly reflect a persons abilities to do the actually work. There are quite a few challenges with this to say the least. A few folks have put together a petition inquiring about your experience so that a dialogue can be started in order to address this.
