Strategies for a lovely Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is upon us and I wanted to share with you some of my favorite tips for sailing through it with as little stress as possible.

As much as we love our families, time spent together in the holiday rush can have its share of stressful problems.  We know our relatives so well. They know what buttons to push to make us crazy, just as we know theirs.  So how best to get through the day?

1. Remember not to be looking for reasons to be offended.  Often a comment made off the cuff hits a little too close to home.  Most likely the person was not looking to offend us.  Even if they were, taking offense raises our blood pressure and leaves them untouched.  Unless we choose to escalate the whole situation.  Is that really how we want to remember the holiday?

2. Focus on what's good about the day, what you're grateful for.  Stress and negativity cannot live in your brain at the same time as gratitude.  Anytime something begins to make you unhappy, find
something, anything that you're grateful for.  And with all that happened with Superstorm Sandy
this past month, so many of us have much to be grateful for.  Remember my favorite Wayne Dyer
quote, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."  Works with cranky relatives too!

3. We humans tend to imagine things either much worse or much better than they actually turn out
to be. Decide in advance it's going to be fine regard less of what it may have been like in previous years. 

Whatever your Thanksgiving is like, remember it's only a day or maybe even a few hours.  We can get through it...if we do our part to bring the best of us to the table...   If all else fails, just breathe and wait it out.  The day will be over before you know it!

Marianne

PS... If you'd like a few more strategies to get through the holidays, join me at my next Power of Positivity seminar Wednesday November 28 at 6 pm at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick.  Go to www.SecretsofSuccess101.com for details and to register.