November 21, 2006

Say "No" to Say "Yes" to the Holidays   The Gigantic One-Day Macy's Sale How to Set the Perfect Holiday Table The Top 10 Gifts You Must Have How to Wow Your Friends at Your Holiday Party The Picture Perfect Family Gathering How to Survive the Endless Holiday Parties How Not to Gain 10 lbs. this Season Too Busy to Enjoy the Holidays?  Read this!   Black Friday starts the day after Thanksgiving here in the US.  The advertising has begun on television and radio, and in print.  Everything you need to know and more to have the PERFECT holiday.  The advertisers want you to get it right this year.   How about you?  What are your thoughts?  How do you want to spend your holiday season this year?  Do you want to cut back your gift-giving, put a limit on your spending, spend more time with your family, eat-in more often, and/or reduce the number of parties you attend?   Do you have what it takes to say "no" so that you can say "yes" to your holiday?  The one you and your family have decided to have, not the one the advertisers say you must have.  Here are tips to say "no".   Have a pow-pow and as a family decide what is most meaningful for you.  Paint a picture of your holiday.  Create a checklist that you can refer back to when life gets hectic and you're being pulled in too many directions.  Decide your budget for the holidays, who you want to spend your time with and how to split it up, who receives gifts and who doesn't, plan your holiday menus, how much partying you will commit to, etc.  Remember that this checklist is flexible, but it gives you an excellent reference to what your family decided is most meaningful for them.  It then becomes easier to say "no" to what is not on your list. Lower your expectations.  Does everything have to be perfect - the perfect gift, the perfect table, the perfect meal, the perfect behaving family?  You can run yourself ragged trying to make everything perfect.  Will it even matter tomorrow?  Slow down, relax, and enjoy being in the moment.  Say "no" to perfection. Say "no" to doing it all and "yes" to delegation.  Who or what can help?  Have a potluck, buy your cookies from the bakery, hire a personal shopper, and buy on-line.  Quit thinking that you are the only one who can do it and figure out what you can delegate.  It will free up time for your meaningful holiday to-dos and wants. Help others who are less fortunate than you and your family.  Give of your time, talent, and money.  When you give, you receive.  Say "no" to the holidays being all about you and say "yes" to charitable efforts. There is so much temptation over the holidays to eat, drink, and party the night away.  You can say "yes" to health by exercising, sleeping, eating right, and having down time without saying "no" to every temptation.  Everything in moderation!  A little is better than none. Freeze your credit cards and pay cash or debit this holiday season.  Say "no" to buy now, pay later (i.e. July 2007).  Say "yes" to a debt-free holiday!   Saying "no" is not a sign of weakness.  Rather, it is the mark of a person who knows what they want, what's meaningful to them, and who is willing to buck the status quo to have it.  Say "yes" to your season.          "You just have to do your own thing, no matter what anyone says.  It's your life."             Ethan Embry   "It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much."             Steve Jobs   "We fear doing too little when we should do more.  Then atone by doing too much, when perhaps we should do less."             Robert Trout   "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."             Buddha          Ten months after I wrote about all the decisions we had to make, our kitchen and bathroom remodel has begun.  Our cabinet makers have been fabulous with their input and we could not have moved forward without the help of our decorator.  She was amazing at transferring our vision to concrete details.  Once John and I decided on a color scheme, the rest was history.  We're still making decisions as we move forward (it's all those little things), but so far so good.  We're staying calm, cool, and collected.   The tear down of the old has been set in motion.  Yes, I will be living in clutter for the next month.  Dust, noise, and no kitchen comforts.  Just leave me the coffee pot, microwave, toaster oven, the George Foreman, and put the refrigerator in the garage.   So, I'll be saying "no" to much of the Christmas rush this season.  You'll find me absorbed in the house details, saying "yes" to our new kitchen and bath.   Blessings to you this Thanksgiving.   Have a fantastic week and say "no" to say "yes" to your holidays.   Stephanie   P.S.  I am accepting care packages.  Please send to 24018 State Hwy 16, Jerseyville, IL 62052.  Local dinner invitations are also welcome!    P.P.S.  Looking for help in saying "no"?  Coaching can help.  It starts with a phone call (618-639-5433) or an email (drszh@7steps2abalancedlife.com)          We grow by "word-of-email" so please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone whom you think might benefit from and enjoy it. Thanks so much! Contact Us: stephanie@7steps2abalancedlife.com