Is holiday anxiety creeping up on you? For most of my past Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year seasons, anxiety has been my unwelcome foe.
As I write this, Thanksgiving is less than a week away. If I don’t ask for God’s help now to handle the oncoming holiday stress, anxiety will overcome me. That’s why I’m digging into my blog archives to find the best posts for handling holiday anxiety, in the hopes they will help you (and me) have a more peaceful holiday season.
How Prayer Helps You Handle Holiday Anxiety
If you deal with any holiday anxiety, whether it’s about getting everything accomplished, relationship problems, or feeling left out, prayer can help you too. These are the verses I use when praying about anxiety.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 NIV
How to Eat Right to Beat Holiday Anxiety
My automatic stress-soother is sugar. I LOVE sugar–its brightness and sweetness helps me escape an anxious moment with a quick dopamine rush.
Desserts at Thanksgiving tantalize me. Christmas cookies and hot cocoa tempt me daily. Sugar has a monstrous power over me this time of year, especially in stressful moments.
I don’t plan to give up sugar in this season. Sugar makes my holidays sweeter. But I need to trade my anxiety for peace without using sugar…
Gain scripture-based help for trading food cravings for God’s peace in this post.
How to eat right to beat holiday anxiety. #healthyliving #holidays #emotionalhealth Click To Tweet
Using Christian Meditation to Fight Holiday Anxiety
Do anxious thoughts hold you secretly captive most days? That’s my story, for the vast majority of my life. This Christian life isn’t easy and temptations to worry abound.
In this busy holiday season, my anxious thought temptations don’t stop. They pile up like gifts under the Christmas tree. Or maybe they pile up in not-so-pretty packages like these:
- bills (silly us–we bought both our vehicles in late spring, which means both insurance AND taxes are due during the holidays!?)
- dishes/laundry/messes (I’m sure you get what I mean)
- fatigue (the time change and middle-age insomnia are getting to me)
- too-high expectations (those never go away, I’m afraid)
So there you have it…my list of no-longer secret anxieties. Even though I am always searching for God’s peace, anxiety is hiding right around the corner, waiting for me to let it in…
Keep reading on this post to learn how to fight anxious thoughts with Christian meditation.
You can use Christian meditation to fight holiday anxiety. #christianmeditation #anxiety Click To Tweet
Relieving Holiday Anxiety with Thanksgiving
If an antidote exists for anxious thoughts, it’s thanksgiving.
On my drive home in the nighttime fog, I took a deep breath. I remembered the times God helped me navigate that curvy highway in heavy downpours. I remembered how he guided me when that highway was completely ice-covered. The thousands of times he protected me on that highway without me even knowing it. I thanked God for never leaving me alone, for always guiding me, and for caring so much about me.
All this happened in maybe half-a-mile of driving time, and my peace returned. I still had a job to do (get home safely), and I needed complete focus to do that. But I didn’t need to worry about anything else.
Keep reading on how thanksgiving can help relieve your anxiety in this post.
If an antidote exists for anxious thoughts, it’s thanksgiving. #thankfulgratefulblessed #gratitude Click To Tweet
Planning Well to Quell Holiday Anxiety
Christmas peace is closer to me when I stick to plans. My December anxiety level raises up higher when I don’t stick to a plan, and I’ve learned through trial and error what plans work best.
For nine years, I worked as an event planner of an annual home and garden show. If one thing was consistent in each year of the event, it was this: you can plan, plan, and plan some more, but something will always go differently than you expected. I learned to expect the unexpected as an event planner.
Read more about how planning well can help you quell holiday anxiety in this post.
By planning well, you can quell holiday anxiety. #intentionalliving #christmaspeace Click To Tweet
Choosing Peace Over Anxiety
I hope you find help for your holiday anxiety with these posts. I also encourage to you check out my book, Christmas Peace for Busy Moms, for more practical tips on how to handle holiday anxiety with God’s help.
If I don't ask for God's help now to handle the oncoming holiday stress, anxiety will overcome me. #holidayanxiety #stress #christmaspeace #xmaspeace4moms Click To Tweet
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