Please share and inspire others! 
Do you remember the time your dad or mom came to visit you in college and they took you to your favorite restaurant? Do you remember ever taking a trip on a holiday or doing volunteer work at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter? Some of my most special holiday memories are centered around the experiences I had versus the ‘stuff’ I received. Experiences like feeding the homeless at a soup kitchen on 1st avenue in Seattle, visiting the sick with my Dad in Scranton, receiving Thanksgiving dinner from my church as a young girl when my mother was terribly sick, making coupons for my Dad saying I would go above and beyond in helping him around the house, baking cookies with my brothers back home in our log cabin in Seattle and traveling to Argentina for Thanksgiving. The list goes on. I usually forget what people got me, unless it was the Teresa Barbie doll I really, really wanted when I was 10 or the rope and wood my Dad gave me to make a rope swing…haha, but I never seem to forget the experiences.
My Challenge for US this holiday season:
#1: Take a staycation or vacation
Why not change things up this holiday? Take yourself and your significant other or loved ones on a vacation. You say now is not the time? When is there a perfect time for anything?! You do not have to go to Paris, rather stay in a nice hotel on the beach or in the mountains, or go camping. Just do something together with your family for a half or full day.
#2: Give the gift of experiences
I am excited to give my loved ones experiences that they can build a memory around. When I think about doing this it makes me smile as I need to be creative to do this. We are all creative in some ways, but commercialism almost takes away that creative twinkle in our mind. Perhaps it is a gift card to their favorite restaurant, or a coupon to go shopping at their favorite store, or a homemade memory box they can store pictures, a picture of something memorable they can put on their wall, or simply an awesome card you wrote from your heart versus a generic happy holiday card with nothing extra but your cat’s mug shot.
#3: Get out from behind the lens and enjoy the moments here and now!
Another thing I challenge you to do (something that I am working on as well) is get away from taking a ton of pictures and just enjoy living the moment not through a lens. It is nice to have the pictures as memories, but I don’t need 700, only a handful. This will help me just be in the present versus waiting to get the perfect picture or create the perfect moment for my social media feed. I know many of you can relate.
#4: Steer clear from social media for a few days, get your dopamine fix from other stimulus like being present with yourself and your loved ones.
If you are obsessed with tweeting, facebooking, Instagramming, take a few days off. The world will go on, your friends will still be there, and it will probably make you feel less anxious and distracted, and therefore more mindful and present with your loved ones who are in town. It is not uncommon to see entire families hanging out all on their phones doing separate things, and not communicating. When will this change? Let’s start this holiday season.
#5: Slow down
Lastly, slow everything down. Slow down your eating, slow down your walking, slow down how you talk. I notice during busy times of the year I start to walk fast and talk faster in an effort to try to get more stuff done in less time. Let’s all slow our roll this December. Unless you or I are an emergency room doctor, then what the heck are we rushing for?
Slowing down will allow us to be more mindful of what we are doing. Eating is a huge thing around the holidays and people end up overeating and often feeling uncomfortable with their food intake. Slowing down eating, actually chewing your food, making time for a meal, and saying no to one more piece of pie. Maybe you do really want one more, and if so, go for it, but if you do not, then say NO. Your in-laws won’t be changing their mind about you.
This holiday season, slow your roll, enjoy the moments, and give the gift of experiences that create memories for a lifetime.
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