Jingle Bell Boundaries

In the midst of glowing and glittering lights, through the milieu of merriment, may lurk a foreboding dark lump of coal. It is a lump wrought by the stress and exhaustion invoked by this season of myriad concerns. We may worry about the conflicts between inflation and presents, time off work and time with family, all while simultaneously unraveling so many entangled string lights.

How much we give of ourselves can oftentimes seem like skating the line between Santa and Scrooge, ever risking a freezing plunge a moment’s breath away. Depicted in a recent poll by the employment platform Monster is a chilling tale of holiday woe. Many are those who are deprived of ample time with which to enjoy the season’s festivity, isolated instead within an igloo of burnout.

Similarly illuminated by that same poll is the remedy to this naughty list of productivity paranoia. Much like a tree topper connects a room's ornamentation, so too does time with family and friends connect us to well-being and happiness. Conveyed here by HRDive, allowing our teams time to rest and relish the company of loved ones is a gift as large as any in Santa’s bag of goods. While the needs of work may be important, so too are the needs of the self, as advised in this video by Doctor Amit Sood.

Sometimes, to see through the avalanche of demands flurrying around us, we must seize precious moments for self-care and introspection. We can still remain on the candy cane-striped line of Santa over Scrooge when we’re willing to occasionally receive instead of endlessly give. Asserting boundaries does not make one a Scrooge. Rather, tempering expectations can further reduce the weight of coal pulling our stocking down the mantel, as discussed in this video by Mayo Clinic.

Goodwill toward ourselves and others is the guiding light for our sleighs on stressful, silent nights.

“There are three stages of man: he believes in Santa Claus; he does not believe in Santa Claus; he is Santa Claus.”
- Bob Phillips