5-Stress Busting Holiday Tips for Family Visits

Visiting the family for the holidays can be stressful. During a visit, it’s likely that things will get a little stressful. Maybe someone will get irritated and perhaps even a little angry. It’s an actual skill we’ve acquired as humans to decipher exactly where to push another’s buttons. Our family has the secret map to those buttons! From the view of Unconditional Love, it’s lovely that another human knows those details about us. We think, geez… “I can’t believe they said that”, or “but we’re family.” “We’re supposed to get along!” Not the case. It’s easier to give up that fantasy now and implement a strategy to keep your mind calm, your heart open, and the love flowing.
I love my family, and I love spending time with them, BUT honestly - we’re different people with different beliefs, thoughts, and opinions. We don’t always agree, but we do always love each other. There’s much beauty in difference, for if we were all identical, this would be an awfully boring world. Not to mention, difference allows us to see things from a different perspective and grow. A belief is just a temporary “placeholder of operating procedure” until another belief takes its place – isn’t it remarkable how adaptable we are?!?!