Guest Author - Vivian Nelson Melle

Autumn has been honored as a time for reflection and preparation. Many religions commemorate the season with celebrations offering time to review the passing year and pray for the future. Many cultures view fall as the end of the year, just as nature’s life and vitality wane only to be reborn in the spring.

This fall, take a cue from the leaves and develop a strategy to help maintain your focus during the coming holiday season. Release old habits and maintain proven successful plans to sustain sanity during demanding times. Research maintains that planning helps alleviate stress by removing unnecessary stressors and focusing on what is valued most, in this case, time.

Fall is the starting point for the holiday season. To most, Halloween fires the starting pistol signaling a frantic dash toward turkey day and the succession of special holidays. Evenings of fast food replace home cooking in order to accomplish the endless holiday to-do list. Meditation or exercise is easily replaced by holiday fairs, shopping and children’s play recitals. Moments of relaxation and silent contemplation become crowded with sugar cookie frosting and gift wrapping.

While these holiday projects can offer solace, they also replace the activities which maintain a positive body image. We only look as good as we feel. It is possible to get everything accomplished and continue our healthy lifestyles with good planning.

It takes great strength and commitment to maintain healthy goals. To ensure continued success, review the activities that have contributed most to feeling good. Don’t blur the bounty by focusing only on what helped you loose weight or what has kept you from eating a box of cookies at one sitting. Instead, evaluate what has allowed you the ability to live freely and healthy without demanding radical changes? What replaced the desire to eat the box of cookies? Has a morning walk become a morning ritual? Did membership with a farm co-op help introduce more vegetables into your diet?

These simple changes support a healthy body image by helping us feel good physically and mentally. They become the foundation for continued victory, and will offer motivation for future success. Start your prioritizing with these actions in mind. These positive behaviors will help combat against the bulging to-do file and emerge triumphant.

Take those feel good activities and do them in spite of that screaming to-do list. Set priorities and find an appropriate method to help stick to those goals. Try using an online schedule or a planner to keep up with daily priorities. Review your priorities often to make sure your health and wellness are at the top. Enlist the help of a close friend to check in and make sure you are holding true to your goals. Continue to nourish yourself as it gets rocky by rewarding your self with healthy treats like scented candles or long bubble baths instead of one of those frosted snowflake sugar cookies.

Life during the holidays can be endured with a positive outlook when priorities are identified and maintained. The results are in, and researchers suggest goal planning as a way to ease stress, anxiety and frustration. Use fall as your springboard into the world of priority setting and planning. And remember to enjoy yourself and your fabulously stress free body this holiday season.