Not everyone will be celebrating this holiday season. Not everybody will be merry and bright. It will be hard for some people to feel joyful, peaceful and at ease. Maybe this someone is you.
If so, I’m glad you are reading this..because I want you to know…I get it. You feel lonely, worried, unsafe, sad, lost, hopeless, angry, broken, hurt, anxious, exhausted or in a deep funk. Maybe you are tired and feel weighed down by stress. Maybe you are an introvert and find that all of the energy around this season is exhausting. Maybe you are coming to terms with a new paradigm…not one you chose. Maybe you think you should be happy…but you just aren’t.
You are not weird or odd or a grinch. You are human. This holiday season is no respecter of life circumstances…some of them difficult. You are not required to participate in ‘merry and bright’. Adopt your own tradition this year. Gather with the tribe that can meet you where you are. Engage in activities that support your wholeness. Feed your need without apology. Reach out for help. Just because you are invited doesn’t mean you have to go. Find a bit of ease by purposely caring for yourself. Make that enough.
If ‘merry and bright’ is where you are…awesome! Remember to respect the decisions of those who aren’t. Approach them with tenderness and understanding. Remember…there really is no ‘them’ and ‘us’. There is only us. How we treat each other matters a lot.
All is well.
Paula
One Response
This is a message that rings beautifully and clearly with truth. Non-judgmental, no push to feel different, just loving kindness and acceptance….giving this to others and to ourselves, is what the world needs now. Yes. It is OK to not feel OK. it is OK to express yourself in a genuine way. There is nothing you need to change. You are loved just as you are…..unconditionally. Feeling feelings is the way to feel vibrant and alive and by learning to stay with them we begin to realize that this is what sadness feels like, or pain, or grief. This is being fully human. Thank you Paula.