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Pace Yourself Through Year-End

Home stretch.

Finalize your annual review: both one for personal and for work.

Set your plans for the remaining holiday time. Even if it's your default plan of spending time with your family of origin, review past times and decide how you want to navigate those gatherings in healthier ways. You might need to set some boundaries for yourself or with others.

Some people stay at a nearby bed and breakfast or hotel, to give space and somewhere to go when things get a little out of hand. We all hopefully find ways to still love our families and yet many of us find family trying at times. It helps to have some space to breathe.

Some folks find support systems near where they travel---there are tons of them, or networks of friends who can provide perspective and processing. So look them up and make a plan to spend time in spaces and with people who can help you stay grounded at this time. They call it the nuclear family for a reason: the reactivity within families can be ginormous.

People can get testy at work during this time: many people are rushing to get year-end goals complete, they may have challenges at home, people drink a lot and come in hung-over, this time of year "should" bring out the best in us, but the days are the darkest, and often trigger depression, sadness and a myriad of memories that can make some of us pills.

Let go some work goals if it takes undue Herculean effort to make it so--especially since key members of the team may be off for the rest of the year.

It is said, "take nothing personally, even if it has your name on it." So go forward through these last few weeks with all your self-care as intact as you can keep it: rest, eat moderately, drink with boundaries if you can stomach it, and laugh 'cause life's worth living. Live well.

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