Remind yourself its okay if all you do for the holidays is get through them.
Lets start here, since its the most important thing.
If the thought of practicing a bunch ofself-careis utterly exhausting, thats valid as heck.
Melissa Alexander/Adobe Stock
Im going to feel like crap and white-knuckle my way through it the best I can.
Give yourself permission to hate every minute of this if thats what you need.
Set new holiday expectations or goals.
Speaking of expectation-setting, its important even when youdowant to make an effort to feel festive.
And telling yourself that you know you wont have a typical holiday this year wont magically erase your feelings.
Maybe this year, its a time to reset and reflect, with lots of self-care.
Hell, maybe its even a time to do some cleaning andreorganization.
The holiday season is a social construct!
It can mean whatever you want!
On that note…
3.
Dont force yourself to keep up old traditions.
If you dont know where to start, I also wrotethis listof small ways to celebrate alone.
You might find some ideas you want to try there.
Consider making a gameplan ahead of time.
Give celebrating a shot even if youre skeptical.
The thing about self-care andmental health adviceis that its easy to decide something wont work without actually trying it.
I dont blame yousometimes itwontwork and why risk it if youre already feeling like crap?
The same can go for trying to enjoy yourself.
Why force yourself to have fun when it might just be a bummer?
But if youre up for it, mental health experts will tell you that its worth testing the hypothesis.
Some of the time, youll surprise yourself and find out itdoeshelp you feel better.
And if it doesnt, now you know.
6. venture to appreciate the little things.
Alright, now I do kind of sound like a greeting card.
But hear me out.
I for one have made a whole event out of enjoying holiday candles for precisely this reason.
Especially right now, things aren’t easy or stable.
Stay up on basic self-care the best you might.
Then, of course, staying up on self-care feels evenmoreimpossible.
Its a hard cycle to be trapped in, for sure.
It wont fix everything, but it will help.
Remember the downsides of your usual holiday season.
In fact, theres a lot of stuff Idonthave to deal with, thanks to my solo holiday.
Give yourself plenty of space to feel your feelings.
It’s okay to be sad during the holidays, Alex F., 36, tells SELF.
All feelings are okay, so let yourself feel them.
