Keep Calm and Carry On

"Calmness is power."   James Allen

I thought you might enjoy reading some of the lead story from our local newspaper printed this weekend: 

Black Friday; shopping frenzy begins Thursday as large crowds in Yuma hunt for deals:  "Jose Rios and his girlfriend camped out nearly 31 hours outside of Best Buy eagerly awaiting Black Friday deals.  The couple showed up at the store in the Yuma Palms Mall at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and picked a spot close to the door.  They were third in line....Some felt guilty about shopping on Thanksgiving but found the deals too good to pass up.  Others were in it for the entertainment. 'I came for the excitement, to see if anyone was fighting,' Admitted Leny Escobar as she left Target.  It's fun, everyone is running around going crazy."

Since you’re reading this blog it makes me think that you have survived the ‘Black Friday - Free For All.’ (actually there’s nothing free about it!).  How’s your ‘stress’ level? Did you count how many times you used that word (stress) this weekend?

Well, thanks to your sharing, I am passing on a number of good ideas and tips for how you plan to ’ keep calm and carry on’ over the holidays: 

1. Make lists.  Don’t walk out that door without one.  It’s not just the list itself that keeps me from getting stressed, but the process of thinking it through that helps me to be better organized.
 

2. MY De-stressing actually has do to with baking, when I am baking, my hands are busy, I can smell & see what I have made,  it makes me happy...I give a lot to the neighbors, so, it is a win-win!!

3. I love to get a good deal, and I love to use coupons, maybe I even obsess over them, but this holiday season I’m not going to stress over the coupons.

4. I don’t think Christmas is all that stressful…I try not to let the commercialism get to me.  I try to remind myself to focus more on what's important to me; the relationships in my life. 

5. A great way I get rid of stress during the holidays is by cutting wood. However, it does lend itself to a slight back pain in the morning on occasion. It's great throwing a stump of wood on the block and cutting it in half with an Axe. I don't really know of any other kind of exercise like it. I guess hitting a punching bag or going to the batting range would be similar, but I don't guess it would bring the same satisfying sensation

6. I’ve decided to simplify this year.  If someone wants a gift card, instead of fighting it and thinking I need to get them a ‘real’ gift, I’m going to just get them the card they said they wanted.

7. My tip is to shop early and wrap as you go. It really helps me to see that I am making progress when I not only buy the gift, but put a wrap on it, then I can really check it off my list.

8. I find it’s better for me if I set a budget for each individual gift and don’t go over it.  My emotions get involved when I go shopping and I start to measure how much this person means to me and has done for me and how I should try and repay them…of course I can’t repay them…so I need to just stick to my budget.  That makes for less stress now, and especially in the future when the credit card bill arrives.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to submit your suggestions. I’ll share more ideas as I receive them.  In the meantime remember that calmness is power, so 'keep calm and carry on'!

Post your thoughts or send me an email at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com