This Holiday, Choose Easy

I don’t quite feel like I have my s**t together this holiday season. I don’t think I ever do. I am always in awe of people who totally nail the holidays.

Who are the people who nail the holidays?

The people who manage to somehow get all of their family and pets together to smile at the same time in matching outfits for a photo AND send said photo out as a holiday card to their loved ones. The people who have their beautiful Christmas tree up AND garlands and wreaths AND Christmas lights shining brightly on their house for all the neighbors to enjoy the day after Thanksgiving. The people who bake homemade cookies for their children’s teachers, donate gifts and books to needy families, AND even remember to gift the postman. The people who host their holiday family dinner at their house AND make all their holiday meals from scratch. Those people must really have their s**t together. If you are one of those people, I am sincerely impressed and slightly jealous of your organizing skills.

I feel my execution is mediocre

I certainly strive to do many of those A+ holiday activities but probably get maybe a B- in my actual execution. And a B- is ok. Especially this year.

We might be able to squeeze in a family photo in different outfits with one of us not smiling, but I’ve never sent a mass Christmas card. We have a Christmas tree, but we didn’t get it together to put lights up on the house this year. I did manage to send my son’s teacher an Amazon gift card, but no homemade cookies. We are having my in-laws over for Christmas Eve dinner, but it’s all pre-made from Whole Foods (highly recommended, BTW!).

Cut yourself some slack

Cut yourself some slack this year if you’re not on your A-game for the holidays. In fact, if you’re living with migraine, chronic conditions, or mental health challenges, cut yourself some slack every year for the holidays.

The dark winter months should be a time of reduced activity and more introspection. Still, somehow modern life has turned the winter holidays into a time of feverish buying, decorating, cooking, traveling, socializing, and general over-extending ourselves.

A stressful time of year with migraine

It’s no wonder so many of us have increased migraine attacks during the holidays! There is so much more on our plates this time of year when our human instinct is to nestle into our blankets with wool socks, a cup of tea, and a good book.

Let’s normalize imperfection, especially around the holidays. Perfectionism is a surefire migraine trigger.

Even though I don’t have all my s**t together for the holidays, if I can prevent me or someone in my family from losing their s**t this year, I’ll call it a success.

Take care of yourselves

Take care of yourselves first, my dear migraine family. It’s ok to do thirty minutes of yoga or take a nap instead of baking a batch of cookies that no one really wants to eat anyway.

The time you take to recharge your own batteries and do less will pay dividends this holiday in more meaningful quality time with your family and friends that you can actually enjoy with fewer migraine symptoms.

This holiday, choose easy.

Happy holidays from my imperfect quirky family to yours.

What’s one holiday activity you’re going to let go of this year?