6 Tips if the Holidays Are Hard for YouSample

You Still Have Some Control 

If everyone around you seems happy and having fun, but you’re struggling to get up each day and keep moving forward, I want you to remember that you are not a victim. Despite what has happened or how you’re feeling, you still have choices. 

Even though things may seem out of your control, you still have some control over many things. You can choose where you go and what you do during the day. You can choose to look outward and be a blessing to others. You can choose to praise God through the pain. Here are four more practical tips: 

2) Meet with a friend or group. A person that has friends must shew himself friendly (Proverbs 18:24). When you get that “stay in and pull the covers up” feeling, make yourself get in the flow of life. Go out or invite someone over. We need our friends, especially at times like this. Meet an old one or make a new one. Make it a priority to spend time with them. 

3) Get fresh air, see the sun, breathe deep. These are practical but medically proven things that help!  Take a walk, or sit in the sunshine by a window. And breathe! When we’re stressed, we take shallow breathes – deep ones help our bodies in many ways. 

4) Help someone else. God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other…(1 Peter 4:10). It’s so easy to get tunnel vision and think of nothing but our own troubles. But someone out there needs you, and the Bible says it’s more blessed to give than receive. When you help someone else, it blesses you too.  

5) Create a new tradition. Very often, holiday sadness comes from the interruption of former traditions. But this holiday season, determine to create one new tradition and move forward. Buy an ornament. Bake something. Go to a holiday concert. Volunteer in some way. You might cry the whole time, but it’s progress! (You can cry and still be in faith. Crying is good for you).