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By Diane Forrest
With Thanksgiving under our belts....literally, we are
now staring right into the Christmas season.
Thanksgiving is a rather calm holiday, gathering at the table eating a
huge meal and watching football, how hard is that? No worries about decorating the house or
buying presents...just relaxing with family and friends, and hearing the same
old stories over and over. This
Thanksgiving was different though. The
retailers, in their infinite wisdom, decided to begin the shopping season on
Thanksgiving Day - not only throwing chaos in a calm day, but ripping employees
away from their family time.
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This year I did something that I have never done
before. I went to Wal-Mart during their
"Black Friday" sale that started on Thursday night. There was a good sale on vacuum cleaners, and
I needed one, so I said…why not? Big
Mistake! I didn’t know that my small
town had that many people, and I think most of them were there! The store was so crowded; you could not even
walk down the aisle. All the sale items
were disguised, and located all over the store, so it was also more of a
treasure hunt too. There were people
yelling and pushing and grabbing and fighting for bargains, activities that
would make even the calmest person stressed. Luckily, a vacuum was not one of
the coveted items…so I had little difficulty obtaining one and trying to work
my way out of the store.
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My next mistake came when my mother encouraged me to go
to the midnight opening at the mall. Now
I know why they call them "Door Busters" there was such a crowd gathered at the door,
that when they finally unlocked the door, I feared the doors were gonna break
or at least fall off the hinges. I had
imagined that all the folks I had just seen at Wal-Mart had made their way to
the mall, so once again, I found myself trapped in a sea of people and unable
to move through the store.
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Thus the holiday stress had begun. I did get a little shopping out of the way,
but now I was faced with decorating the house, getting out Christmas Cards and
baking delicious treats for family and friends.
Making lists and checking them twice, making sure I had remembered
everything and everyone.
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The holidays can be a very stressful time, but it is also
Stress Free Holiday Month, and below are some tips that will help you make it
through the season with your sanity intact.
They include:
- Make a list
- Get plenty of rest
- Make a budget
- Ask for help, you don’t have to do it all by yourself
- Take a break, go for a walk, visit a friend, and watch a movie
Just remember its ok if you don't get it all
done...chances are nobody will even notice if you forget to send that
fruitcake!
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Have a stress free month, and Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas to you also.
ReplyDeleteLikewise sirelk. Have a safe and enjoyable Merry Christmas.
ReplyDelete