Keep the 'Joy' in Joyous, by keeping the 'I" in Holiday

The holidays are out of the gate and for most of us, this is both thrilling and terrifying. Or maybe even just terrifying. Ironically, it's the season that’s meant to bestow love and spread joy that can also bring on epic amounts of stress and send the most chipper among us into an emotional whiplash - from yuletide bliss to a yuletide hiss.

Well, not this year, is what we say! We (the elves at Clark’s Botanicals) are laying out a plan to hold on to our cheer and we invite you to join us!

We're taking control of the holidays and starting with a holiday motto to hold on to our holiday mojo. Repeat after us, “We will stay organized, realistic, and healthy and make every effort to preserve our own joy and spread some joy to every Scrooge we come across.” Because, keep in mind, they’re not really cranky, they’re just not holiday-evolved, like we’re about to become.

There’s a lot of great holiday advice out there on how to keep your calm through December - from the medical and psychological to the less scientific - and we’ve curated some of our favorites.

The Mayo Clinic has a sage list of healthy holiday ‘to-dos’ that includes things like acknowledging your feelings (we like that!) staying realistic (by all means) and setting aside differences (why not if even for a few hours at your in-laws’ interminable dinner?)

Health.com’s recommendations for keeping the holiday blues at bay is more holistic. They suggest finding sunlight, smelling citrus, going for a walk, squeezing your hoku spot for 30 seconds (the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger) laughing, enjoying a good romp between the sheets and turning up some music - and we like them all. If pinching your hand while you hold a lemon under your nose gets you to your happy place, bring on the lemons! 

Psychology Today has a holiday madness aversion strategy to keep our priorities simple and organized. Make two lists: “Nice to do for Me” and “Need to do for Someone Else” and alternate between them throughout the season. So, after some fruitless shopping for that spoiled-to-the-gills niece, grab a mani. You get the idea. 

And finally, Dummies.com has an excellent holiday reality check among their stress-busting recommendations and it’s one we plan to add to our own: try to peel off a little bit of time this season to give back. Whether it’s holding a ladle at a soup kitchen or just delivering a little baked something to an elderly neighbor, it’ll be a win-win for all involved and a little perspective check to remind us exactly what the holidays are all about (or should be, anyway.) 

Say this out loud: “We hereby declare that we will not go down the holiday rabbit hole, and we will find the joy in joyous!”