2000-12-07 - 14:24:24

Here it is, December already. I can feel the engines of an overactive social whirl beginning to whine. This year I have promised myself that I won't stress out needlessly and that I won't allow myself to become over-extended. I am doing well so far, but we are only one week in.

I think that the key to retaining sanity and health during the holidays is to find your center and stay there. If you can't stay, you should at least visit it daily. I wish that I knew the magic formula for finding your center and staying there. Instead, I am grasping at anything that seems to work.

Following are some of the things that I am finding helpful in keeping me grounded and feeling sane as insanity is creeping up all around me.

First and foremost I have increased my consumption of water. I am finding that drinking a minimum of 80-90 ounces of water a day keeps the little niggly voices in my head quiet. You know, the ones that try to tell you that you aren't good enough, that you need to be doing more, and that you need to be a doormat to get people to like you. Well, now I am literally drowning them! Sure, I may run to the ladies room more often than everyone else in my office, but I am feeling a lot happier.

Another happy by-product of so much water consumption is that I am not as hungry and holiday treats are much easier to resist. Being able to resist those treats leads to a much healthier self esteem (at least for me) and I end the day feeling in control of my life.

I have also started walking. I walk at least four nights a week with a good friend. This is helping me keep my center by giving me a good sweaty release for any excess energy I have, and it gives me some great quality time with my friend. Of course I am reaping the physical benefits from exercising regularly, but the mental benefits have been a real shot in the arm.

I am waking up with more energy. I am feeling better throughout the entire day. I am a much nicer person to be around because I am able to exist in a much less high strung plane.

I am trying to be more regular with writing in my journal. I know that putting my feelings onto paper always makes them easier to sort out. I am pretty sure that being sorted out is step one to getting to your center.

Even though all of these things help me feel calmer and more in control, I know that there is so much more out there. I want to try yoga or meditation. I am curious about aroma-therapy.

What do you do to find your center and stay there?

Until next time....

�