Positivity Power   

As I traipsed through pumpkin patches with my grand kids it hit me....Thanksgiving is 6 weeks away! Who knew? How many of us, as we anticipate Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, already feel overwhelmed? As we collectively chant, "There's so much to do!" we wonder how we can tackle all the upcoming season's preparations while continuing all our other activities. The answer is, we can't.

Whenever we take on a new commitment, we need to let go of another. If we don't, our lives become frazzled and chaotic. We cheat ourselves of our self-care time and end up overstressed and unhappy.

To avoid this, there are times we need to just say, "No." This is hard for many of us, since we are certain we need to be all things to all people. Dear Abby gave me great advice on that once, long ago. I was relieved to read that I didn't have to give a reason for why I couldn't help whenever asked. (I thought I had to explain that I was already chairing the church bazaar and collecting money for the cancer drive and managing thirty kids and 100 horses as a 4H leader! I didn't have time to bake cookies for the class Christmas party.) Abby told me I didn't have to give a reason. All I had to do was say, "I'm sorry I can't, I have another commitment." What a relief! That commitment can be taking care of yourself, your family, your priorities. Try it this season.

 "True balance requires assigning realistic performance expectations to each of our roles. True balance requires us to acknowledge that our performance in some areas is more important than in others. True balance demands that we determine what accomplishments give us honest satisfaction as well as what failures cause us intolerable grief."    

- Melinda M. Marshall