Do the words “Bah, Humbug” run through your brain at this time of year?
Or maybe you begin conjugating the word “stink” just like the Grinch –stink, stank, stunk.
With all of the pressure to make the holidays “just perfect”, it’s no wonder we have a tendency
to be stressed during this time of year. What are the factors that cause all the tension?
If we can identify them, then we can combat them. Here are a few I thought of:

Money:
We are living in rough times right now and our horns of plenty may be approaching the empty mark. It’s okay. It’s not the “stuff” that people remember in the years to come. It’s the fond memories of spending time with each other, the stories that are told and the laughter that is shared. If you’re running low on money this year, consider giving of yourself. There is always a multitude of gifts waiting in our hearts to share with others.

“A negative mind will never give you a positive life.”
— Ziad K. Abdelnour

Recently, with a room full of executive women, one of the topics I touched on was negative self-talk. This was a powerful group—women who have climbed the corporate ladder and broken glass ceilings—and yet almost all of them raised their hands when I asked if they had thought something negative about themselves that morning prior to arriving at the conference.

What does this tell us? If the cream of the crop is still beating themselves up, aren’t we all? As the keynote speaker that day, which meant I had something to say they wanted to hear, I also had negative thoughts about myself prior to taking the stage.

Is it possible the most wonderful time of the year is here already?
It’s true; the hurry-days—I mean holidays—are here, and let me be amongst
the first to ask if you’re ready—such a silly question we greet each other
with during this time of the year.

What happens if you’re not ready? Are they asking if I have bought the turkey, cleaned the house, decorated inside and out, (first for Thanksgiving and then a quick turnover to Christmas), mailed Christmas cards, collected Christmas lists, made my own list, gift shopped, grocery shopped, wrapped (with bows), cooked and baked and am I just sitting around with the only thing to do is open the door dujour on the Advent calendar? Of course, I’m not ready. And If you knew me, you wouldn’t even have to ask.

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” 
— St. Francis de Sales 

I’ll never forget one of my son’s teacher telling him, “Life’s tough. Get a helmet.” At the time I agreed. Life is tough, and we have to muscle through it, especially the tough times. That’s how I was raised—to get ‘er done no matter what. To a certain degree, I believe this to be true. In hard times, the strong get stronger. You have to in order to make it.

That’s what fight like a girl means—to scratch, claw, scream—to do everything you can to kick someone’s or somethings butt! And, we all have had times when we’ve had to pull out every bit of our strength and fight like a girl.

If you want to fight like a girl, make up a bed with my mother.
I guarantee you’ll lose.
I also guarantee if you can make a bed to her standards,
you won’t have a bit of trouble in bootcamp out on Parris Island.
Even Mom's older sister, who can be bossy, won’t make a bed with her.

Mom is 92 years old, so needless to say she has no option but to be old-school. But I have to admit, I like some of her old-school, exactitude ways, and making a bed to perfection is one of them.