How I’m Trying to Move Through the Holidays With Grace This Year
I miss my family. I live a plane ride away from most of them and I’m not the kind of person who is trying to travel during COVID-19. The warm embrace of a wood stove and laughing with all of them until my sides ache seems to be on the other side of a dangerous chasm. But I’m still trying to move through the holidays with grace this year, anyway.
I’m focusing on the things I can control like getting up early and working out every day.
I’m drinking water and taking healthy breaks while I work from home.
I’m really excited to be starting the 10-week course in the Wim Hof Method using breathwork and cold immersion to deal with stress.
And I’m writing.
In the US, the holiday season is both promising and difficult. From Thanksgiving in late November to New Years’ Day, hardly anybody escapes without reliving some trauma or working on a little bit of healing. It’s a time to do some good in the world and to realize just how much more good we all need to do.
Maybe you’re feeling the pull of guilt that makes you return to a toxic environment. Or you left your hometown for a reason and aren’t really looking to go back. You might be looking forward to every part of it except your strange uncle or crazy aunt spouting conspiracy theories or dredging up old grudges. You could be struggling to keep your finances together while trying to give your loved ones everything they want as gifts, all while wishing your family could put aside their past issues to come together again.
But this year, when all of the holidays are even more strange and difficult because of COVID-19, I’m taking a chance to recalibrate and think about the things that help me to feel good.
I am fully aware that no matter what I try, I could end up feeling no better than when I started.
But like I approach so much of my life — I could always fail, but that’s no reason not to try.