Life gets so stressful this time of year. Could I be missing Openings because my attention is elsewhere?

Keeping Centered

For some of us, the holidays this year are moving at warp speed. There is so much to do and time is speeding up. It is challenging not to get into a stressful state amid it all. So, we try to keep up and stay on track. We do our best to stay centered and then something new comes along that we did not anticipate and tips the scales. Staying centered during the holidays is crucial, but not at all an easy thing to do.

It is not that we must stay in perfect balance and centered throughout the holidays. It is more about maintaining our focus and avoiding distractions to keep ourselves centered. The holidays are a dynamic time. There is so much that demands our attention– obligations, places to go, things to do and people to see. At the same time, our regular life with its demands continues. Where will the time we need come from?

The best thing to do is to stay centered, maintain our focus and give ourselves what we need to make it through this time. The good news is that after the first of the year the holidays and their demands are over. We can see this as a short-term thing that we must be ready for and engage in, pulling in all we have to make the most of what can be a joyous time.

Pausing

We look at pausing frequently in this blog. It is a powerful tool to keep us centered and can be valuable in getting us through the holidays. Pausing may appear to slow our momentum, but actually it strengthens it. We cannot maintain high speed 24/7. Pausing sharpens our perspective of what is happening in the present moment, rather than being taken away into stress or the past or the future.

Say that life is seeming out of control – stress is high and there is too much to do. Emotions of those around us are high as well. We don’t know what to do about it and too many things are hitting us at once. We can keep going in this state or we can pause. Pausing gives us time and space to look at what is happening and course-correct if we need to.

When we pause, we regain our perspective and our equilibrium. From there, we can re-center and decide how we want to go forward. Pausing does not take a lot of time, but it does take strong intention. When stress or distraction has taken over, perspective and equilibrium are elusive. It can be hard to stop the momentum we have created, even if we know it is not helping us.