It seems that life has become this heavy stressful burden for so many of us, writes author and psychologist Margaret Lambert in her last column before Christmas.
We are surrounded by pain, hurt, upset and anger through most of the media channels – not this one of course. (That’s quite true, Margaret – Editor)
It seems that stories must contain horror, gore or crime to make it in the big ticket items of news – breaking news stories are rarely, if ever, stories of joy, philanthropy, or random acts of kindness.
Those stories barely get a mention in the general media.
No wonder we feel that life is heavy and carries so much stress and anxiety.
We are not oblivious to the stories we see or hear – at some level we take on board the words and behaviours that we witness.
Stress, anxiety and depression are at record levels in our society.
In Australia, around one in five people live with some form of mental health struggle, and all of us have become accustomed to the language of stress: we talk about some form of stress at home, at work, in our relationships, at Christmas time.
In our busy-ness, we stress as we try to pack more things into our days, or we may stress that we are not doing enough.
It’s time to bring balance and perspective back into our lives – to find ways to lighten up, to live more cheerfully, to laugh more (and laughter IS the best medicine), to love without blame or expectation, and to just let be!
It’s time to take our hands off the control board and allow the flow of life to be as it is (much of our stress arises from not being able to control the actions of others, or events that unfold).
In this Christmas season, give yourself permission to lighten up, to let go of control and stress, to laugh a lot and to live with joy and love.
I wish you a most joy-filled and stress-free Christmas.
Until next time…
Marg Lambert
