Glum This Holiday? Here’s How to Brighten It 💡

Solutions this Friday on LIVE Zoom with me

Yesterday, my entire Thanksgiving plan in Oregon – with my dear brother, sis-in-law and 88-year-old Mama – changed. This coming weekend, I was planning to drive there, which is about a 20-hour excursion that includes three challenging winter mountain passes at the California/Oregon border. My brother left me a message, noting that with the predicted “bomb cyclone” along my driving route and the fact that I was driving alone … it might just be a better idea to hold off until Christmas.

I thought, “Christmas? But I’m not planning to be there for Christmas.”

Turns out, he and his wife will be gone for 14 days over Christmas to be with the grandchildren in the next state over. They assumed I’d be up for Christmas to squire dear Mama around to all her Christmas traditions.

Even in veritably drama-free relationships like the one I share with my lovely brother and sis-in-law, unspoken expectation and assumption can be a deadly thing with loved ones … because you don’t even know you’re not on the same page.

Now, I had plenty of plans coming together for the Christmas holiday HERE in Laguna Beach. And my Mama now lives in assisted living where she’s made good friends and has settled in quite remarkably. Still … thinking of her waking up on Christmas Day without either of her kids around made me feel like this:

Even if you say you’re good being home alone … that you want to be home alone … even if you’re Macaulay Culkin (Kevin) shouting it at your mother in the “Home Alone” movie … being alone at the holidays is not typically the emotionally freeing event it’s cracked up to be.

In the end, I chose to cancel the 2-week Thanksgiving excursion and, instead, book a flight for Christmas.

Now, of course, I need to figure out what to do with myself for Thanksgiving! But that’s another story for another blog.

Why am I sharing my family holiday story with you?

In most cases, we don’t even consciously realize the stressful dynamics around the many, many inward decisions and outward actions we each take during the holiday season.

At any other time of the year, we can’t be budged on decisions; we draw the line in the sand and that’s where we stand. But when it comes to the holidays, there’s suddenly this weird wobbly wonk in how we make certain decisions and take certain actions.

And many of those decisions and actions don’t feel in resonance with how we really want to think and act.

It’s not just about the “required” time or gatherings you think are expected of you. It’s about the money you spend that you don’t want to spend, the places you travel to that would never be your first choice, the gifts that feel expected, the party invitations or non-existing party invitations you’re grappling with, even the food you’d never normally eat at any other time of the year.

This is why I’m offering a Special Holiday Edition of my LIVE Coaching Booth this Friday, Nov, 22nd.

My “Di’s Pop Up Coaching Booth” returns on Friday, 9 am PST/noon EST, with a special emphasis on shifting your perspective and thriving through the holidays. In this Q-and-A live event with me, ask your own questions directly or listen in as I cover many questions with other attendees. It’s bound to be a warm, sometimes funny, even story-telling event to help you through the holidays.

Free registration is here but you need to get your own Zoom link:

If you don’t want to ask your question out loud, just hit “REPLY” in this email and ask your question there. I have plenty of questions rolling in that I’ll be answering anonymously, so your question is safe with me.

And please feel free to share this info with friends so that even more of us can find a better, healthier, faster way to actually enjoy the holiday season.