I chose the words simpler life for my blog purposefully. Life is not simple. Kids are not simple. Work is not simple.

Complications always seem looming and information blasts us at every turn.

But, we can have simpler lives. We can learn to plan ahead, work with routines and take a few minutes to nurture ourselves. We can choose to do the more important things and let go things of lesser importance.

We can embrace our limits instead of steam rolling over them.

We can leave 10 minutes earlier if we keep running late.

My intention is not to bring you back to a time of the farm and no technology, unless that is your dream. My intention is to give you ideas and mindsets you can use in your real, daily life to feel saner, more peaceful and more fulfilled.

It seems right around this time people start to feel frazzled and acted stressed. The lady in line at the post office was pretty annoyed that she had to wait for the one person ahead of us. "I haven’t even started shopping yet," I’ve heard from dozens of people. A lot of people say that don’t have time for one more thing on their list, much less all the Christmas prep.  Faces turn grumpier, tempers get shorter and the stress can be felt in the air.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way. You get to choose the kind of holiday you want. You can go away with your husband. You can decide not to put up a tree. If the family complains, they can put it up.

You can keep the traditions that are important to you and your family and let go of ones where you are just going through the motions.

Counteract

Don’t get stressed because that’s what everyone is doing. Think of ways to counteract the stress. What are the hardest parts of the holidays for you to deal with?

If you have been exchanging gifts with a large group of people, now may be the year to make that group smaller. Some of your extended family and friends may even be relieved. Or you can decide to go sledding as a group or do a white elephant exchange.

Can you have a potluck dinner instead of doing the whole dinner yourself?

Do you need to bake that many cookies or bake anything at all?

Is Christmas time, the best time to host a party?

If it doesn’t work well this year than next year you can simple add back in baking or the party.

Other People’s Stress

A lot of your stress may be from being around other stressed people. Just going to the store right now can trigger it. When you start to breathe faster, clench your teeth and feel frustrated, ask yourself if there is any reason for you to be stressed at this moment. And take a few deep breaths.

It’s tough to slow down in the midst of frantic people trying to create the perfect holiday. But, you will feel so much better being counter-cultural.

Do you have any ways that you beat holiday stress?

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Photo by Lepiaf Geo

Check out my 4 week simple holiday plan to help you pare down your holiday and lessen your stress. And it’s an affordable $2. You can learn more here: Simple Holiday Plan

I used to wonder why my husband never stopped up the sink when doing dishes. All that great water would go down the drain. Then my mother-in-law said her husband never got around to getting a stopper that would fit, so my husband grew up thinking that’s how you do dishes.

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Do we really need more and more? I was at the farmer’s market. Bouquets of flowers after flowers. Then I saw this dahlia:

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I knew I only needed one flower. And it has just as much power as a whole bouquet.

I love reading blogs, inspirational newsletters, good twitter posts, magazine articles. I love listening to informative audio.

But, for the rest of the summer I’ve decided not to listen to another audio until I glean actions out of my current audios. I will not read every blog post in my feeder, instead implement what my starred posts.

I want to have time to read an item slowly and contemplate. I want to make decisions and think thoughts for myself, not just listen to what others think.

I want to spend less time on email. More time contemplating, enjoying and being. I want to dive deep this summer.

I had such an enjoyable Sunday meandering with my family.

Take a look at your week ahead. If your schedule is booked, see if you can move things around so you have some unscheduled time. Or better yet, cancel something. You will feel so much better.