Winter Break
What the next 16 days mean for me.
As of noon (my time) today, my Christmas (Winter) Break began.
From now until January the 5th, I will be on break from work. Typical for school employees and students this time of year, it’s supposed to be a day to celebrate the holiday’s, relax and recharge, spend time with family, friends, going to dinner, and maybe enjoy an adult beverage or more. But for some, like me, it can also be a time for extra stress, trying not to disconnect completely from my day to day routines, and generally, trying to “fill” the gaps where my job (that I love) would be.
(If you want to see why my job is so important to me, read They Will Never Know What They Mean To Me ).
Leading up to this day, there has already been a lot of stress about the financial aspects of it…among other things. Things like:
How can I provide any kind of joy for the people who mean the most to me?
How can I pay my monthly bills (that unfortunately don’t go away this time of year?
How can I make time for myself and my needs in the midst of it all?
How can I prevent completely disconnecting from some semblance of my daily routine (i.e., sleep schedule, working out, etc…)?
According to Smerika (2025), two in five (41%) adults in the US report that their stress increases during the holidays compared to other times of the year (Managing Holiday Stress).
My feeling about this is that that number actually seems a little low. Whatever it is though, there’s little doubt that this time of year, even though it’s supposed to be a magical time, is anything but magical for many of us. For me, as I’m sure for many, this time of year simply means surviving it. In other words, celebrate moderately, fill the gaps by focusing on taking care of myself, and reminding myself that I’m not alone. One other thing that will help is celebrating my son’s 22nd birthday (on NYE). Side note…watching football will also help (it’s what I’m doing now as I write).
So, all that being said, I want to know, how do you handle stress this time of year? Leave your thoughts and comments below.
I struggle with this too. I believe it’s because I’m an introvert and need time alone to recharge and to drift away into my magical inner world. That time becomes limited when I’m expected to be “social” with family. I love my family, but I don’t love obligations. I try to surrender to the Christmas days, yet honesty compels me to admit that I feel relieved when the calm returns. I recently wrote a post about this as well.