Lessons Learned During the Holidays

Mariana Thomas  0:00  

Hello my friends! Welcome back to the Mindfully Recharged Podcast. This is your host Mariana Thomas. In this episode, I am going to talk to you about lessons learned during the holidays. Yes, we are getting close to close the month this episode is probably releasing on Christmas or the day before. So whenever you're listening, I want you to remember the things that I'm going to talk to you about in this episode. So without further ado, let's get to it.

Mariana Thomas  0:39  

Welcome to Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas. In this podcast, Mariana brings you mindful conversations and people that will develop and recharge you from the inside out, so that you can increase productivity in your personal and professional life. This is Mindfully Recharged.

Mariana Thomas  1:00  

Welcome back, friends! In this episode, like I mentioned, I want to talk to you about lessons learned during the holidays. I hope that you are having a fantastic time. Already, we are in December 2021. The holidays are the special time of the year and we all get so excited about during this time. You know. We gather with family and friends. We create new memories and reflect on old ones. We are here to remember those things every single year. When you are in the midst of all of it, you know, even though we remember spots, memories, and we are living in the present, it can be difficult to see the big picture. That's why, I'm dedicated this podcast episode to lessons I had learned during the holidays. Some people might say that their favorite holidays is Christmas or Thanksgiving. For me, it’s both. Really, I love Thanksgiving and I love Christmas. I always always always love them, but one special one also is New Year's Eve. It was our last night together before you know everybody went to do whatever they needed to do. In my case, we always wanted to go dancing after midnight. So we have an amazing time with grandma, we all got together, and we got on our knees to get grandma's blessing. Oh my God, what an amazing time. The atmosphere was electric. Everyone just felt so happy and free. Just being in each other's company was amazing. You know, as you guys know, I am now in the United States. I was born in Colombia and that is where the majority of my family is. Even though I have family in other places in the world, because we love to travel. Yeah, so brothers and sisters all over the place, but the holidays were amazing growing up because grandma was a big part of my life. I remember for New Year's Eve, especially we all gathered together on that day, I remember going to get dressed up, you know, in having this huge celebration at nighttime. And so it's something that I had never forgotten and that I miss so much. I haven't been able to replicate that with my current situation, you know, because I don't have the huge family that I used to have back in Colombia. This time is also a time for reflection. You know, what had happened? What have we accomplished in the past year? What were our hopes? What are our hopes? What are our dreams for the coming year? It was very special time during my family time back when I was growing up, and I'm so grateful for those memories. I want to also remember the things that I learned throughout the years, and that I had learned up to this point, because even though, you know, we only remember certain things that we want to, and we all get excited about this time, we all get in different moods and different situation,. and sometimes we get in the wrong direction during the holidays. I want to share with you the things that I had learned, you know, and that I have learned about Christmas, and that I had learned about welcoming a new year, and what an amazing thing it is to be able to do that, to be able to welcome the new year. 

Mariana Thomas  5:56

One of the things that I have learned is to learn to cope with the holiday season. You know, and why did I say that? I see a lot of people stressing out and maybe they miss their family, maybe they're not close to their family. During this time, especially right now, I understand the world is kinda upside down a little bit and some of us may not have the possibility to be together with everyone that we want to, but learning to assess that is very, very important, and finding ways where we can cope with that, you know, and assessing the situation, without getting yourself in a depressing situation, getting sad, is very important. So one of the things that I had done in order to cope with that is to remember the good times. What did I remember about being with my family? What are the things that I love about that? How can I celebrate that, right now? How can I honor those moments and bring those alive a little bit, even if they're not the same? Of course, they're not going to be the same. But it's okay, it's learning to cope with the holidays, the way that you can possible. That's what I do. 

Mariana Thomas  7:37

The second thing that I have learned is how family and friends celebrate during the holidays. They are different, right? Sometimes we want to make it in our own way. You know, for those of you they have kids, you know, maybe your kids want to do one thing and you want to do something completely different. You know, so it’s coming together and connecting, but also compromising. What are we going to do? How are we going to celebrate? You know, how are we going to do this together in a way that everyone is in harmony and everyone is going to be satisfied? So that's important. Communication with your family is very important. 

Mariana Thomas  8:32

Now, this is something that I struggled with pretty much and I'm going to be very vulnerable here and it’s the gifts, the gifts, the ‘who you're going to gift’, the ‘what’. You just heard a little sound there. The ‘what’.  The ‘how much you're going to spend there. The ‘why we give’ at all? My ‘why’? For me, I have to confess, I don't worry about it. I don't worry about this part. You know, I think the only person that I worry about is my daughter. You know after this boy. Even though she's a grown-up now, I want to make sure that she has something from me. That reminds her when she was growing up when she was a little girl, and we have to have the Christmas tree and the gifts around and everything that comes with the holidays, but sometimes, she's not around. This year, for example, she's going to be traveling during the holidays. We already spent Thanksgiving together and that was her celebration. Now I get to cope. You know, like the number one point I get to cope with the fact that she will not be here for Christmas or New year. Guess what? I already had that time with her and I already gave her a gift. Do I worry about anything else? No. Why? Because you don't have to wait for the holidays, to appreciate people. To give. So why do we only think about gifts during Christmas time when we get so stressed out about how much we're going to spend, how much we're going to give, how much everything? So just relax. As long as you are doing something with your loved ones, with the closest people in your life, that will be amazing. I apologize about the ring, you guys, but I'm getting messages on my phone right now. So if you hear a little beam that’s what’s happening, you know, I do not edit my podcast as much. So let's go with that.

Mariana Thomas  10:53  

Then, number four, it is the rules of gift-giving, you know. Again, let's go with that train. Are they given? Are we going to give it to the kids? Are we going to give to adults? Plus some giving do's and don'ts. This is another reason why I don't worry during this time, because it’s very hectic, especially going shopping during Christmas. That's a no-no for me. Okay, I'm not a big shopper, I do not enjoy shopping. You know, I love online shopping and I love getting exactly what I need and get up. So you're not going to find me wandering around, going to try out five dresses, and then making a decision. I do my homework before I go there and I kind of know exactly what I'm looking for. Get it, try it on and I am done. I'm all about being efficient when it comes to shopping. So I think about the same thing when I'm going to gift someone. What do the person really need, what do I want them to feel, whom is the gift for, right? Is it a kid? Is it an adult? Just get it done quickly. That is in case, you truly want to gift during this time, but that is not really one of my concerns. I don't worry about that. Why? Because setting myself for success through the holidays, is one of my priorities.

Mariana Thomas  12:38

That brings me to number five. So setting myself for success is during the holidays. What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is I'm not going to stress out. I'm going to be successful, and on the other side, after the holidays, by keeping myself sane. 

Mariana Thomas  13:00

That’s where number six comes to place. The importance of self-care during this time. Self-care is about taking care of you first. Because guess what, if you're not well, you're not going to be able to go shopping, to put on your tree, to get your meals down, or whatever it is that you like to do. So for me, self-care continues to be number one. So during this time, I'm going to take care of myself. I am not going to stress out about anything because it's not that important. 

Mariana Thomas  13:44

We forget that the meaning of this time is not just about shopping or gifting, or I don't know, having a big party, that kind of stuff. We celebrate, but it's about getting together with your family, getting together with the loved ones, really having great memories, the house was important. So number seven, going within this, is the meaning behind each holiday. You know, and we all celebrate differently, depending on where you're from, what kind of family traditions you have, maybe your food is different from somebody else's food, how would you dress to celebrate, etc. Right? So don't put so much thought into it. Just go with the flow, focus on what is important to you, and celebrate on your own terms. Whatever that means to you. The meaning is personal, or it's family meaning, right? 

Mariana Thomas  14:55

So that is going to allow us, by number eight, to handle stress and overwhelm in a better way during these holidays if we lower the temperature when it comes to worrying about all these things.

Mariana Thomas  15:13

Number nine, are there ways to connect with your loved ones during these holidays? You know, how do you connect with your loved ones? I remember, growing up, back in Colombia, it was all about being together, it was all about having a great meal together. It was about sitting around the table with the family and having a conversation. It was about having grandma there being their material God, as we call it, she was the head of the family. You know, we honor her so much. We respect her so much. That was important, that was the most important thing for us. So the connection, which is so amazing, that we will spend hours and hours together. I think, even if we were all to get together right now, after all these years. Even for the ones that are gone already to heaven, I think it will be the same, I think everything will be the same, because of the memories and the feelings that we created during those times. 

Mariana Thomas  16:40

Those are the lessons, you guys, that I had learned. I want to ask you to ask yourself, I want you to ask yourself, what are the lessons that you have learned. If any of these lessons, resonate with you, please apply them, share them with me maybe in the comments on my social media, send us an email, but let us know how you feel. This is the time of year when we take breaks for our daily routine and enjoy life with those close to us. So take some time to also review some of the things that you're learning here. It can be easy to lose sight, all this happening at the moment, but stay connected. Stay connected with the podcast that you listen to, with the people there are always putting into you. It is important not to forget your goals for this year, either. I have been reflecting about this, about my own mindful living goals, and for that, I created a guide for this upcoming year, you know, and I begin to think about this and thought, “Let me create this guide.”. It’s not just for me, but also for my audience. So in January, we got to start our goals. So I want you to start now, I want you to start now. So what I want you to do is to go to the show notes. Look for that link that says Mindful Goal Guide 2022. Click on that and download your guide, download your goal guide, so you can start working on those goals for 2022. Okay, so we can continue working towards fulfilling our dreams. As well as giving back, you know, I am going to volunteer more already sign up for something really special, and I will share with you later what that is that I'm excited about doing. If you like me to help getting a study down to your path towards mindful goal setting. Please, please please click on that link right now on the show notes and go get it. Okay, so we can start setting realistic goals for 2022. And also if you enjoyed at this point and the lessons that I had learned from the holidays, and this is really based on my living with my family and friends. It's my experiences here searching through life. So I hope that you enjoyed those. Share with your friends and family. Please send us an email, comment on my social media, if you are following me, and if you're not, please do so I would love to see it. I love to create a community with you. 

Mariana Thomas  20:13

With that, I'm going to see you in the next episode. I think I'm going to be talking probably about more goals setting and how to set resolutions for the next year. So not a promise, but I think that will be the next episode just so be on the lookout for that, and I will see you next time. Have a fantastic time, my friends, and enjoy. Enjoy your holidays. Bye-bye. 

Mariana Thomas  20:45

Thank you for listening, everyone. Don't forget to go to the show notes and click to download your FREE Mindful and Energetic Living Guide. Also, don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, your families, and everyone up there. I want to get this out there to everybody. So thank you for your support and I'll see you next week.