Stress the positive and have a calm and happy Christmas

WE ARE now officially on a Christmas countdown and the tree has now been installed in the Morrison household. As always I have been turned into a Domestic Goddess, all of my gifts are neatly wrapped with Instagram-ready bows under the tree in readiness and each night I sit by the fire contemplating which Christmas craft to adorn my already perfect home.

Then I awaken from my daydream with a start – and this weekend I realised that there weren’t three weeks until Christmas as I’d convinced myself, there were in fact two and I was working both of them, hardly any gifts have been bought, let alone wrapped, and I have three adolescents who don’t seem that bothered about giving me a list, although they will be if they don’t have something to open on Christmas Day.

However, even though I am experiencing all the above, I’m feeling really good about it. I’m still excited about Christmas, it’s all absolutely fine, in fact I’m sure it will be great. But this wasn’t always the case, many a year I would be the one in full-blown meltdown, rushing around panicking about what was left to do, finding myself reciting my list to anyone who would listen even just to share with them how impossible it was going to be to get it all done and feeling absolutely worthless because this year was going to be a complete disaster with sobbing kids and inadequate, last-minute gifts.

So how is it that I’m actually okay and not a melting mess? I suppose it’s because I see things a little differently, and find that while there is a lot to do I can still feel really excited about what is a wonderful time of year.

If you read my column regularly you will know that I our experience is created by our own thoughts, not the endless queues in shops, the lost Sellotape, the ever-growing list. While we may think that those things create our stress, they don’t, they simply don’t have that power, it’s impossible. If they did, everyone would have the same experience of them and they don’t. As I see it the only thing that can create the stress is us and the more we engage with stressful thinking the more it grows – so this year, how about we let the stressful thinking go?

I know stressful thoughts do pop into our head, but just because we think something it doesn’t make it true. Our thinking may tell us that a queue is stressful, but the reality is we are simply standing, there’s nothing inherently stressful in that and once we see that it is so much easier to let the thought pass. We can stand in a queue and be calm and we’ll find the Sellotape quicker if we are calm.

More importantly I’ve learnt I get heaps done without the endless stressful chatter in my head, telling me that I ‘ought’ to be doing something else, or doing it quicker. I suppose I have found that the key to a perfect Christmas is making the feelgood mindset my priority.

As I see it, we always remember how we feel, we rarely remember the gifts we received, how the house looked, or what we ate. So how about making how you feel your priority, so that you can feel excited about Christmas no matter what? andreamorrison.co.uk