Are You Stressed Out By The Festive Season?

You’re not alone. CANDY LIM, a mum of three and founder of The Fashion Collective Singapore, shares her keep-it-real strategies for surviving the holiday hustle.

- Candy Lim

The festive season is just around the corner. The music blasting in the stores repeatedly reminds me that it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

There’s so much I love about the holiday season: gift exchanges, festive parties, catching up with friends, and tables overflowing with treats and warm chocolate chip cookies that melt in my mouth.

But wait! Who has the time to bake these things anymore? As a working mum juggling deadlines and deliverables with daily school runs, I barely have time to run to the bathroom, much less bake cookies.

But that got me thinking... Who skipped their lunch break to pick out all those perfectly wrapped gifts? Who threw those amazing themed parties with oven-roasted turkey and homemade stuffing?

I’m betting my last cookie that, in most cases, a woman made it happen. And statistics support that. Findings from the American Psychological Association confirm that a woman’s stress levels spike around the holidays.

Ironically, there is no time of greater expectations – or disappointment, when those expectations aren’t met – than during the holiday season. It’s taken me years, and numerous self reminders, to define my own vision of what’s meaningful, and to stay focused on what really matters: We do not need to give or receive the most expensive gifts to celebrate the season, we are not unloved if our partners do not shower us with luxury items, and we are not bad parents for not getting our kids the most coveted toy of the season.

It all boils down to managing expectations versus reality, and keeping focused on making your experience match your vision. There’s a wiser me in the hot seat these days, one who has benefitted from lessons learned over the years. So if I may share:

1 REALITY CHECK

Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong

STRATEGY