Join Pam Weeden in our series of regular wellbeing updates, this time focusing on what the start of Christmas preparations can mean for our wellbeing.
I am not sure about you but where I live, over the last couple of days we have started to see the gradual arrival of Christmas Trees in windows and brightly lit houses. My husband is of the ‘it is still November’ variety and we are still in darkness in our little corner of the world; however, what is apparent is the festive season is making itself known. For those of you knee deep in Carols, Nativities, Advent Services and glitter, I am sure you have felt in a deep friendship with Christmas for several weeks now!
Christmas is a time of great joy and celebration; it is busy, bright, expensive (I have two, bordering on adult children with a fetish for t-shirts that cost more than our weekly food shop), cheerful and permissive – it is the ‘just one more mince pie’ or eating six chocolates straight out of the Quality Street tin in a row, because for once no one is going to casually glance over and remind you about your Slimming World class. It is full of a special magic only a young child could explain and adults are nostalgic for. However, Christmas can be also a very disorientating and challenging time. It can also feel overwhelming and lonely, a time of feeling lost. It can be a time when it is easy to feel a lack of connection to purpose and what gives life meaning on a personal level.
In order for our wellbeing to be strong, we need to understand who we are, what our goals are, what we are here to achieve and what being empowered to achieve them looks like. It can be easy to lose sight of this in the busyness of living and Christmas especially can highlight what isn’t feeling quite right. Much like passing a magnifying lens over an image for intense scrutiny. For some the lack of everyday routine is unsettling and not for everyone the gift of a family.
Let’s not forget Christmas began in the simplest of ways, in true humility. It began with a child being born to exhausted parents amongst straw and animal mess. In the noise and chaos of a town packed to the rafters for the census, it was in a place of quiet and solitude that Jesus arrived into the world. For those feeling overwhelmed, lost, wondering what it is life is asking of them, in the noise and chaos that is Christmas, it will be in the quiet and peace, and the spaces in between the tinsel and glitter, that we can look for ourselves once more.
Pam Weeden is a qualified professional Executive Coach and Mentor who is passionate about leadership development and believe in facilitating the growth of the person and the professional. Throughout the pandemic Pam has offered pastoral support to the Trust's senior leadership team.
You can follow Pam on Twitter: @PamWeeden
