Episode #37 – Trading Stress for Joy this Christmas.
Today on the podcast we are coming to you from Katrina’s avocado farm in Barham. It’s not quite December yet when we chat, however we are mentally preparing ourselves for the crazy count down that is the festive season!
When this conversation drops it will only be 20 days until Christmas, so we felt it was important to chat about how we can trade stress for joy this festive season!
Honestly, we don’t have all the answers and it’s definitely not about nailing it, but more about being intentional and trying our darndest to keep calm, amongst the chaos.
Essentially, we all agreed that the focus of Christmas should be about creating happy memories with family and friends and trying not to focus on all the ‘stuff’ that comes with this time of year!
Christy talks about the fact that it’s not about scrapping everything (because there are ‘things’ we actually need to ‘DO’ this time of year) but making time for intentional down time with family, friends and community.
Self-care rituals are also essential this time of year, but it’s often when we let them go
Katrina discusses the power in saying NO to some things. How for her, if it’s not a massive YES, then it’s a NO – especially for stuff that’s not necessary. She also talks about the importance (and fun) of letting go of the need for everything to be perfect.
Leonie shares her thoughts on intentionally curating what you want your Christmas to look and how you want to feel, and the importance of really getting clear on what’s most important for you and your family. Essentially, this value-centred decision process will help create the space for the joyful stuff.
We also briefly talk about some of the main causes for stress at Christmas, which include expectations and impressing imaginary people and ‘keeping up with the Jones’ – especially on social media.
Swapping gratitude is a great way of swapping stress for joy this festive season and we set ourselves a challenge to find time every day to share three things we are grateful for for the remaining 20 days until Christmas.
We’d love you all to join in the challenge and check in with us on our social pages with your successes and challenges.
So, every day until December 25 write down or share with someone what you are grateful for and witness the difference it makes to help improve your approach and mind-set. Get your family and friends involved and rejoice in your success in trading stress for joy this Christmas.
Thanks for tuning in to Episode #37 – Trading Stress for Joy this Christmas. Feel free to recommend to a friend, or share your thoughts over on our social pages at our closed Facebook group and over on Instagram. Stay tuned also for a direct podcast email coming soon, where where you can touch base about any Spreading the Good Stuff episode and receive exclusive information about podcast events and bonus conversations.
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Christy and Leonie, and Katrina
xxx
During this conversation we talked about what we are loving, and it included:
Katrina ~ Marie Forleo’s book Everything is Figureoutable! Katrina recently saw her live and we have also completed her online business course, which is awesome.
Leonie ~ The Simplify Magazine subscription (only $20 for lifelong membership), which talks about focusing on joy this Christmas time.
Christy ~ Being ‘slow’ and intentional thanks to the Slow Echuca Moama movement – as the antidote to busy! There is a huge appetite at the moment for people craving pockets of slow in their busy lives.
Image: thanks to Annie Spratt
