Missing Someone During the
Holidays #Christmasdepression
Many people look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and
Chanukah, but plenty more people find holidays challenging for some very
tenuous reasons: regret, family problems, the loss of a loved one, and the
remembrance of friends past. For the man or woman with anxiety, good cheer all
around can bring with it a terrible sense of loss. Many churches do a service
especially for this purpose right around the holiday. If you deal with the loss
of a loved one or never having a loving family around the holidays, you may
consider joining with a group of people who share your grief.
Personally, my holiday tradition was always to leave town
and go on a vacation or spend time with one of my sisters who have children. I
could hide all of my angst by running away from it. I did this for almost my
entire adult life, until my mother, whom I care for, could no longer travel for
the holiday. Now I have to put up a tree and deal with the past. I have to tell
you, sometime I feel very sullen. Most of my feelings come around the loss of
people in my life. Some of the other feelings, the ones I have dealt with, I
have changed by defining my own Christmas traditions, completely different than
the past.
After never putting up my own Christmas tree, I actually
bought one four years ago on sale after Christmas. I also bought every
beautiful 75% off ornament I could find at Dillards and Macys that would make
the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen. The next year, interestingly enough, my
mom had a heart problem and ended up having a triple bypass right before
Christmas, forcing me to face my own challenge of creating my personal holiday
tradition.
That year, Mom sat on the couch and watched as I put up our
first tree. I have to tell you, I was fascinated with all the excitement going
on inside. Every ornament was a surprise, as I had never even opened any of the
boxes from when I bought them the year before. We squealed a few times and my
heart felt good about being able to give my mother the Christmas she deserved.
At that point, I wasn’t sure if she would make it to see another one. God has a
way of helping us get through our pain in wonderful ways. Even the need to buy
a tree the year before any of this happened became an interesting synchronistic
event.
The next two years, counting this year, the tree has gotten
less and less filled with intrigue and a little more about duty. I still enjoy
decorating the home, but I miss the feeling I had when I first opened the boxes
and saw my first real Christmas tree alit with newness.
This morning I pray that God helps me feel that all those
people I miss in my life are around me like angels celebrating my life WITH me,
not without me. I open my heart to the idea that no boundaries are between God
and I. Love never ceases. And God can heal any wound, even the deepest during
this holiday.
If you must, if I must, get quiet, light a candle, and just
pretend for a moment that everything in our lives is just the way God intended.
In so doing, let’s be okay with the attendance at our personal holiday. If we
need to, see a counselor or a life coach to help get our minds out of a dark
place and into the light. You don’t have to grieve this holiday. You can feel
the joy of the Christ child being birthed right in side of you, the lighting
the tree for the first time.
______________________________________________
New Challenge: Go to Week 8 of the “Year
to CLEAR Challenge” at www.Bosebastian.com
______________________________________________
Look for MY LATEST BOOK: “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to Effective Change” with a
Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready) on my
Website in the Webstore. Thanks!
Below is information that I will be sharing for about a
month, as not every person on my list reads the blog every day. If you have
already read it, just skip over it. Thanks for understanding.
A
Year to CLEAR Challenge:
(Please Know: You Can Join Us At Any Point in the Year
Challenge.)
The masses search outward for things that qualify them as a
person, but I always go inward for that which quantifies me for greatness. At
twenty-five I preached on street corners in NYC as an in-the-closet Pentecostal
minister. One day I heard a still small voice say, ‘God cannot be contained in a
book or a law or even in a religion. Dig deeper, reach further to find me, and
you will find your authentic Self.’”
A Year to CLEAR Challenge!
The acronym CLEAR
stands for (Compassionate, Loving,
Enthusiastic, And Relationship-Ready). The goal of this project is to
engulf readers in a weekly study that will transform them by removing blocks,
promote self-growth, and give them wings to fly freely into daily life. Each
week, by going to BoSebastian.com and choosing the Year to CLEAR Challenge tab,
a new challenge or thought to provoke conversation, growth, and group
functionality.
My vision is to make Finding Authentic You the book to
have in your Kindle or on your computer. The book is a comprehensive look at
growth—spiritually, mentally, and physically.
As a yoga teacher and student of the Ayurvedic tradition, I bring
to the table understanding of physical challenges, the ability to overcome
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expertise in meditation and spirituality as a minister.
The combination of all three in one book with an interactive
connection to like-minded readers, for one year, is what makes this Year to
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The One-Year Approach to Change
No one believes he or she can change overnight. But success in
change comes from the metaphors of nature. Seasonally, life changes all around
us in nature. Finding Authentic You offers a gradual change perspective,
looking at the triune aspects of change as in yoga: Body, Mind and Spirit.
Accessing the
ability to change and finding
yourself actually pursuing change must be a daily search, which I call
getting to the “observer mind.”
In this frontal cortex of the brain we find the anatomy of
change and the power to counter every negative trigger of the human process.
The workings of Hypnosis, NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) and EMDR (Eye
Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) are all positive actions to help the
mind and body flow to a positive space for change.
Every aspect of FINDING AUTHENTIC YOU fulfills this
constant need for diffusing the negative past and dreaming of a fulfilling
future.
Step 1: Recognize That Change is Inevitable
Step 2: Release from Resistance
to Change
Step 3: Understanding Change and Allow Spirit to Define It
Step 4: A History Lesson—About You
Step 5: Look at Your Past with Compassion
Step 6: Making a Strong Commitment to Change
Step 7: Dream Your Fabulous Future
TOOLS FOR CHANGE:
Go to Storefront to buy any of the following or make a
donation to Finding Authentic You: www.shop.bosebastian.com
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My Latest Book: Finding Authentic You—7 Steps to
Effective Change (800 page downloadable Kindle version)
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Introduction to Meditation
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Go to Home Page: www.BoSebastian.com
* * *
Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health
Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band
Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334
or www.bosebastian.com.
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Also, look for MY LATEST BOOK: “Finding Authentic You, 7 Steps to
Effective Change” with a Year to CLEAR (C-larity, L-ove, E-nthusiasm A-nd R-elationship-Ready)
on my Website in the Webstore. Thanks!
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