Get Through the Holidays – Consider Your Beliefs

I am Marcyline Bailey of Real Social Workers Online Magazine and you are inside the Get Through the Holidays Without Losing it Challenge for hardworking professionals who want to be happy.

In the book One Minute Mindfulness, Donald Altman talks about stepping over the threshold. Thresholds refer to the transitions we experience daily and throughout the day.

We have transitioned into the season we know as the holiday season; the six or so weeks that begin with Thanksgiving week and ends with New Year’s week. Transitions are difficult for most of us.

The holiday season can be stressful for many hard-working professionals who are juggling life’s demands and responsibilities.

Happiness comes with balance and that is the focus of the Get Through the Holidays Without Losing it Challenge. We share tips and ways to create a more balanced lifestyle during the holiday season.

Last week our focus was on setting an intention for the holidays. An intention provides focus and direction for every minute of your day. Your intention acts as a filter for your thoughts, actions and beliefs. Asking if the encounter or interaction aligns with your intention allows you to embrace or disengage from the feeling the encounter or interaction generates. This is an important step in managing the stress of the holidays.

Your assignment last week was to thoughtfully decide what you wanted to experience throughout the holiday season.

This week we will talk about beliefs. In the book Yoga Therapy for Stress & Anxiety, the authors write

“the wise person knows that beliefs are based on past experience and not always relevant to the present.”

Let me repeat this.

“The wise person knows that beliefs are based on past experience and not always relevant to the present.”

Take a moment to think about that.

Stress levels rise when we

Avoid change; hold onto emotions, particularly negative ones;
Experience life or lifestyle changes; Worry about the future or the unknown

We are controlled by the status quo of life; when

indifference replaces compassion
Ignoring replaces listening

The authors continue by saying “it is the mind that creates value judgments based on likes and dislikes, personal desires, expectations, family values, and cultural assumptions.”

We emotionalize life situations, encounters and events. Our emotions about these situations, encounters or events create paths to developing beliefs. Our beliefs empower or limit us.

Any belief that has caused debilitating pain should be addressed with a trained professional therapist. Our purpose is to provide options to help you limit the stress you feel during the holiday season.

We have automatic thoughts about situations or encounters that have developed into habits. The authors proposed a systematic way to become more aware of those patterns.

We will begin with an assignment for you to become aware of your thought habits. It is an exercise that is often used in various therapeutic modalities. It also has practical applications beyond therapy.

Set a timer to go off at a specific time interval. No less than 10 minutes and no more than 40 minutes. For example, you might set your timer to alarm every 10 minutes or every 20 minutes.

When the timer goes off. Write down the last thought that was in you head at the time. Write down the time of day and what you were doing.

You might also add what you were feeling or the emotion you were experiencing when you were thinking that thought.

Pay attention to patterns. Once you become more aware of your thinking patterns, you will open a window into the underlying beliefs that drive your emotions and behaviors. This awareness will help you to determine the changes you need to make. Again, for some, it is wise to seek the help of a professional therapist to change limiting beliefs and find peace during the holiday season.

Continue to watch @happyin30 Instagram TV for more Get Through the Holidays Without Losing it posts. Also, for more resources go to www.forrealsocialworkers.com/gifts.

I’m Marcyline Bailey and as always Take Good Care

“I work with social workers and hard working professionals who want to be happy. I would love to hear from you.” You may join the conversation by commenting on this post or on our Facebook fan page REAL Social Workers Online Magazine or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

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