The Holiday Episode | The Wisdom Podcast | S1 E10

Welcome to your Thrive Guide for the Holidays.

Are you like so many others who do their best to recreate the magical moments of holidays past?

Do you imagine yourself at a particular moment in time during childhood where everything was enchanting,

Surreal,

And as if you were living in a fantasy?

We tend to relive the moments of our childhood as they evoke imagination and powerful imagery that immediately takes us back to that time of innocence,

Of wonder,

And of belief in the magic.

Do you think back to memories that evoke pure joy,

Laughter,

And fun so that you can feel these incredible feelings again?

I'm going to encourage you to decide how you will curate magic and wonder by design so that you can experience the joy,

The anticipation,

The excitement,

And of course the love because you've opened your heart to it and because of the actions that you've taken to feel magic through the acts of giving,

Of being grateful,

Of loving kindness,

And of nurturing the relationships with your loved ones.

It matters that you find and feel joy in the real meaning of the holidays.

And so with that,

We dive into the three best ways for curating the true magic of the holidays,

For experiencing joy in the anticipation of new experiences and shared laughter and fun.

I might even suggest that you will want to continue using these three best practices as the strategies for how you live life.

Let's begin with a few questions.

Right here is a perfect opportunity to engage your inner wisdom.

Let whatever intuitive answers that rise up be what you give your attention to.

Find a notebook and a pen because you're going to want to capture the first impressions and ideas that enter your mind.

And these are important and worth exploring more as you decide what new actions and thoughts you will hold for what you wish to co-create.

The first question,

What are your sources of joy?

Second,

What allows you to feel happiness easily?

Write your answers.

Dare to speak these aloud so that you can first hear the enjoyment in your voice as you speak your truth.

Feel free to pause the audio here as you record your answers.

And again,

What are your sources of joy?

And what allows you to feel happiness easily?

Next,

Ask yourself,

How will I feel love,

Joy,

And happiness throughout the holidays?

The key here is,

How will you feel this for yourself?

For example,

Do you need to be kinder to yourself to feel love?

Do you feel joy and happiness when you are doing something that you love?

Take a few moments here and consider this.

How will you feel love,

Joy,

And happiness throughout the holidays?

Your impressions and imagery,

Sensations that come to mind,

Be helpful cues for you.

Record your answers and your inspiration so that you can implement it.

Your visual prompts will help you create a game plan.

The notes that you are making here now will help you decide the strategy of the next several days and weeks of the holidays.

These questions also give you ideas for the best practices in which to live your life.

As much as we all love to feel enchantment,

Magic,

And wonder,

Which is often cultivated by reminiscing about a past memory that we associate with feelings of love and joy,

Decide how you will evoke these incredible feelings by choosing the specific actions and the attitude that will allow you to feel the way you want to feel throughout the holiday season.

How can you evoke these feelings now?

We often idealize a situation that we would like,

But without taking the steps that ensures that we may have this.

This is how you manifest your reality.

My hope is that as you begin to live inspired,

You will choose how you want to feel and experience all of life.

And to remember,

You always have a choice,

That is,

You define what is magical,

Whether at the holidays or any time,

Because of your ability to hold presence in the moments of your life and to look for and see the beauty,

The magic,

In most everything,

And perhaps in all of life.

To help you make the holidays more enjoyable,

Less stressful and chaotic,

More nourishing of love and self-care is a rather simple yet ingenious formula.

It's called your Thrive Guide.

It consists of three best practices.

The first,

Be love.

Practice giving love to yourself first.

Honor what you believe in and what is right for you,

Especially since others have different value systems and beliefs.

Ensure that you have ample time for giving to yourself for what is important to you and what nourishes your soul.

This will always be the healthy practices that allow you to feel in balance,

Supported and uplifted.

Giving to yourself first is not selfish.

The definition of selfish is to lack consideration for others and to seek or focus on your own advantage,

Pleasure or well-being without regard for others.

Giving to yourself is self-nourishing and builds healthy self-worth.

It is necessary for your well-being to care for and be loving toward yourself.

As you practice and nurture self-love,

It is easier to be loving to others,

To give others of your time and care,

Because you have been able to first care for your needs.

The questions and visualization we did a moment ago was to reveal to you what you need to feel happiness,

Joy and the energy of love.

Ensure that you take these ideas and implement them daily.

As a holidays approach,

Giving to yourself is the first job of the day,

Even if in small ways and to acknowledge all that you are doing to be loving unto yourself will have great payoffs.

You will feel more in balance,

Happier,

More easily able to navigate stress and challenges and to give love to others easily.

This first principle is also a best practice for how to live life.

Learn to take care of your needs on a regular,

Moment-by-moment basis so that you can easily be at your best and to be this with others.

Consider that when you are agitated or in a low mood,

It will be more difficult to wear a smile and engage with positivism.

From a positive mood state,

It is far easier and less stressful to engage in conversation and to be on for the moments when you are in settings that could be challenging.

If this helps,

Use the mantra Be Love.

Being love will remind you of your higher consciousness directives and it will help so much with a joyful,

Loving holiday experience.

How do you become better at the choices that will help you take better care of yourself and to do what nourishes your soul?

How do you better assess your needs and give yourself more love when there doesn't always seem to be enough time in a day for this?

Here are some best practices and the positive mindset that is needed to ensure that you take the best care of yourself.

Because to do so is self-nourishing and self-love.

Self-care and self-love begin as a mindset.

It is something that you must decide is important first in order for you to make this a priority in your life.

In the questions that you have already answered about what are your sources of joy and happiness,

Let your answers inspire a plan for how you will practice self-care,

Balance,

And love directed unto yourself,

And during a time of year in which you may feel more pressure and external demands from others,

And especially if you are new to this practice.

This is why it is important to decide and map out in advance what you are comfortable to do and what you will decline.

Saying yes to everything may be helpful for some,

However,

If you are honoring all of your needs,

And if this includes a need to decline some activities or to choose how you will participate in something,

Following the practice of self-care and self-love will help greatly in taking care of yourself.

Discover how you can give to yourself in the ways that will sustain you and allow you to feel inherent joy.

This is important and not selfish nor self-serving.

The second best practice in your Holiday Thrive Guide is to bring joy.

When you are inherently happy,

When you recognize that authentic happiness is an experience that you choose,

And based upon the positive feelings that you allow yourself to feel that are inherently a part of you,

You know that happiness is not the result of what others think,

Say or do.

Without needing anything or anyone to be responsible for your happiness,

You can choose to bring joy,

To show up at your holiday functions and family gatherings in a positive mood state.

This is how you spread joy.

Observe how your innate happiness is like a feel-good experience that is contagious.

One of the easiest ways to feel happiness instinctively is through gratitude and love.

If you are being loving,

You will also feel happiness.

When you are thankful for what is in your life,

For all of the good that you might otherwise take for granted,

You will immediately feel happy from within.

Be happy and fully present with family and friends.

Practice feeling gratitude and love for all that you have in your life,

Even as you continue to work on making aspects of your life different or better.

The holidays are a time for many of us to come together for a short while.

Make this time joyful.

Consider how magical it was for you to feel joy and happiness as a child because of how others wanted so much for you to feel the magic of the holidays.

Now bring joy into the lives of others as you decide to be happy and positive,

And as you share of yourself fully.

Consider these questions to ask of yourself.

What would a healthier relationship look like?

What are some simple ways that I can improve my familial relationships?

How would having better relationships with family members feel?

Here are a few helpful reminders as you navigate the relationships that are important to you and how to improve connections,

Gain a deeper appreciation of a loved one,

And cultivate closeness in a positive and loving relationship.

First,

Practice building and nurturing your relationships throughout the year so that it will be more enjoyable and you will feel a greater sense of connection when you gather for festive occasions.

Far in advance of the holidays,

And as a practice for how you will live life fully,

Plan to keep in touch with loved ones,

To make an effort to see people that are important family members,

And to address disagreements or conflicts so that you can resolve what hurts you and others are feeling.

This is an important practice that often gets lost in the busyness of our life,

And yet we gain so much from making a conscious decision to invest more in our family relationships.

The ongoing effort to reconnect and build closer relationships leads to much healing and an opportunity to feel closeness and comfort in being together so that you can all enjoy this improved relationship at the holidays and ongoing.

At the very least,

Prior to gathering with family and other loved ones,

If there is an unresolved hurt that may take some time and effort to resolve,

A phone call or loving note to your loved one,

Explaining your desire to overcome past hurts will go a long way to feeling the love and making an otherwise uncomfortable situation far more comfortable.

If you feel the limitation in building a better relationship with a family member,

Perhaps because you have tried and this has been one-sided,

Do your best to remain neutral,

To be in the moment as you are together,

Rather than to focus on what hurts have happened in the past.

You may give yourself permission to not have a relationship with every person of your extended family.

If your time with this person is limited to gatherings once a year,

And if you have made peace with the fact that the person is how they are and that you are not responsible for changing them,

Then it is important for you to offer peace in your time with them.

And of course,

Not to use this setting to rehash the past or aim to change them.

Practice gratitude for your ability to put in place healthy boundaries and choose instead to offer kindness and peace here in this moment.

And finally,

The third best way to feel the love and true meaning of the holidays,

Offer peace.

Where there may be a potential for disagreement,

Misunderstanding,

Or conflict,

First,

Offer peace.

Offer peace and kindness because your mandate is to enjoy your time with others as much as possible.

You may disagree with a comment or behavior,

Another person's belief or value system,

But remember that you are visiting or hosting for a short time.

What has the opportunity to be an enjoyable and even magical occasion?

Offer peace.

You can kindly decline to engage in what may be a difficult or unnecessary discussion and instead shift the conversation to what others will find easy and enjoyable to talk about.

Peace is not avoiding speaking your mind and sharing your truth.

You can always find a kind way to be honest with someone.

Peace is both a mindset and an action.

When you are willing to be peaceful,

It matters less if someone needs to be right or to have the last say.

Peace is the understanding that we all have differences and therefore it is expected that we cannot possibly agree on everything.

Offer peace in the throes of others who may be behaving less than kind and you will also diffuse uncomfortable situations.

Important for holiday magic is for you to feel at peace.

To be peaceful is to feel calm,

Mindful,

Attentive and contentment.

Decide in advance of attending gatherings and social commitments how you will practice offering peace.

Think about this for a moment right now.

You may want to practice offering peace as a new daily life habit.

A few questions to think about.

How can you be peaceful?

How can you offer peace to others?

Do you need to extend a peace offering to a loved one as part of your desire to be loved?

Here is some guidance for offering peace as an action and a mindset and especially in moments when you feel triggered by others or if you feel hurt by comments that have been made.

The idea of offering peace is twofold.

First,

To embody the idea of being peaceful when you attend gatherings with family and other holiday events where emotions and behaviors may get the best of some.

The holidays may also be a time in which you decide to make peace or a peace offering to a family member or friend with whom you have not been in contact.

As adults,

There may be no better or kinder inspired magic than making amends,

Being loving and forgiving to someone with whom you truly want to have a better relationship with.

Reconciliation allows for the establishing of a new kind of relationship and one that is built on healthy practices and respectful boundaries.

The holidays for many can encourage the desire to feel the magic and to let go of past hurts so it indeed may be the best time before your holiday gathering for you to take a few moments to contact and connect with someone to share the love that we all want to feel at this time of year.

Practice being peaceful as a best strategy for keeping the peace and consider in advance of your holiday gathering to make amends to ask for forgiveness,

To say I'm sorry and to express the importance of another in your life.

This is magical in and of itself and a direct way to feeling more love and joy.

I hope that all of this sheds much light for you on how much power you have for being love,

Bringing joy and offering peace at the holidays and considering that these practices may be a way to live life.

Check out in the description there is a special little something for you your thrive guide for the holidays.

I wish you much love,

Peace,

Joy and of course to be able to bring this into all of your life.

Thank you so much for listening.

Happy holidays.

Namaste.