{"id":4441,"date":"2017-12-24T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-12-24T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/?p=4441"},"modified":"2017-12-23T07:07:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T15:07:00","slug":"difficult-family-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/difficult-family-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Deal With Difficult Family This Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baby, You\u2019re a Firework!<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Tis the season to be jolly \u2014 people all over the globe are dusting off the mistletoe and puckering up for the long line of friends and family just waiting to be welcomed into your house for another round of yearly festivities.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas is a time when you get homesick, even when you\u2019re home.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\n\u2013 Carol Nelson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

However, there is a darker side to the holidays (ho ho\u2026.bah humbug).<\/p>\n

Being within close proximity to certain near and dear ones over vast periods of celebratory time can lead to some harrowing gas-lighting, festering underlying issues that bubble to the surface (especially as we\u2019re still in Mercury Retrograde, darling), compounding anxieties and stresses and \u2014 let\u2019s face it \u2014 emotional outbursts.<\/p>\n

Invariably, some wild and uncouth words could get slung about the Christmas dining table!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all probably experienced our fair share of family squabbling\u00a0during holiday gatherings but how can you ride out the storm without having a huge blow-out before you\u2019ve even got to sample that hot, steamy Christmas pudding?<\/p>\n

Santa\u2019s Watching \u2014 Are You Going to be Naughty or Nice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA Christmas miracle is when your family doesn\u2019t get into a single argument all day.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\n\u2013 Melanie White<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Remaining calm and peaceful at family reunions is no small feat \u2014 it requires\u00a0a lot of awareness<\/em>, internal reflection and non-reaction.<\/p>\n

The button-pushers will always try to work their Christmas magic but you\u2019re going to have a Santa sack full of antidotes. Below you\u2019ll find zap-it-in-the-butt recipes to counteract disaster:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. <\/b>Reign (deer) It In\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 if someone is working on your last nerve ask yourself if you really need to react and cause a potential\u00a0argument.\u00a0 Can you simply smile and walk away?\u00a0 See if you can be the still presence and avoid a hot chestnut from slipping down your trunks.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great test to be non-reactive \u2014 can you pour ice over the coals this Christmas? \u00a0Sometimes, when I feel overwhelmed by chaotic\u00a0vibes I go and\u00a0take 5 in the\u00a0bathroom \u2014 just sit and take 3 long deep breaths\u00a0and restore your essential energy\/chi\/sanity.\u00a0 Walking away\u00a0and creating space or a break in a quarrel\u00a0can\u00a0be the very thing needed to diffuse it.<\/li>\n
  2. Root (beer) Yourself\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 ground yourself wherever possible. \u00a0Take deep breaths and root yourself into the present moment. \u00a0When you are quiet, calm and centered, you move into the space of still presence where you can become the observer and this can be a very illuminating place to be.\u00a0You might even get some clarity on certain behavioral patterns in others which may lead to a better understanding. When we are being seduced to the dark side of arguments\u00a0it\u2019s better to keep\u00a0shtum<\/em>\u00a0unless you have something incredibly significant to say \u2014 otherwise,\u00a0you will only be adding fuel to the yule logs. Remember that most of what you say \u2014\u00a0in these heated situations \u2014\u00a0isn\u2019t being heard because there is too much\u00a0tumult around and ears tend to close whilst mouths tend to flap.\u00a0 Being the still observer offers you a way to stay in control of your emotions and gauge what needs to be said, done or to identify\u00a0if this is your\u00a0cue to take a stroll around the garden or build a snowman.<\/li>\n
  3. Spread Good Cheer(s)\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 we all love our family and friends, but if you find yourself in a situation where you truly cannot contribute anything but loving them unconditionally, then do just that and send them love. Remain calm and balanced and focus on the love you have for them. Build on that and project it towards them. Remove yourself from the room if needs be and then do it in privacy \u2014 even if it means locking yourself in that bathroom again for a few minutes to gather\/center yourself. I guarantee you will have helped them more by doing this then by rising to the bait of drama and argumentative behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Good luck and may the force be with you.\u00a0Happy Holidays everyone! Keep it zen, keep it sane.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    About The Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Cherie Roe Dirksen<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.\u00a0<\/strong>To date, she has published\u00a03 self-help and motivational books\u00a0<\/strong>and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site\u00a0www.cherieroedirksen.com<\/a>. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click\u00a0HERE<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(The Art of Empowerment<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 for article updates). She has an official art\u00a0Facebook<\/strong><\/a>page (Cherie Roe Dirksen<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 for new art updates). You can also check out her Facebook band page at\u00a0Templeton Universe.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

    If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/holiday-stress-5-ways\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Baby, You\u2019re a Firework! \u2018Tis the season to be jolly \u2014 people all over the globe are dusting off the mistletoe and puckering up for the long line of friends and family just waiting to be welcomed into your house for another round of yearly festivities. \u201cChristmas is a time when you get homesick, even…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4441"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4443,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4441\/revisions\/4443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}