Christmas is the time most children look forward to and many adults dread. There are all kinds of pressures – work deadlines, family, credit card bills. But every year it rolls around, so it’s worth trying to minimise the stress.

A few things to consider (it’s never too late to change even when it’s Christmas week):

·         FAMILY: Is the family thing stressful? Is there anything you can do to improve the situation? Perhaps a little forgiveness, even if the other person doesn’t deserve it? Limited time around family members who don’t know how to celebrate? Is there a family member you are out of touch with that you could phone? Some of these are big questions – but worth thinking through if you’re brave enough. Part of growing up is not just accepting the way relationships stand – we can choose to change them – sometimes it’ll even work.

·         GIFTS: Are you getting into debt over gifts? Are you playing the ‘impress people with gifts’ game? Are you getting stressed out about what to give people, or who to give to? Generosity is a wonderful thing, but it should be a joyful thing. If it isn’t, you might want to consider scaling back. I’m trying to work to a list this year – it’s part of my savings attempt, but is also rescuing me from impulsively buying the first thing I see, then the next thing for the same person…

·         DEADLINES: Tell your boss if you can’t meet a deadline before your last day of work – pre-warning is always a good idea. Write a (massive) list of things to do and prioritise – some things can wait until next year – just make sure you don’t forget about them. Make sure you leave the year on a positive note with your colleagues – even if you’re stressed. It will make them much more happy to see you next year.

·         REST: So many people looked exhausted this weekend, including me. If the end of year slump has hit you, don’t be a hero and keep going every night this week. Have some chilled out time so that your family get you at your best, not your worst at on Friday. If you’re fortunate enough to be having a long break (like me, woohoo), don’t book up every minute with activity – get some rest, recharge the batteries, read at least one book that makes you think, get a little bit of exercise, spend at least one day in your pyjamas… basically chill out. Your brain and body needs a break.

·         ENJOYMENT: Treat yourself – not just with pavlova and ham. Do some things, even just simple ones, that you love. Create a few memories for when you’re back to the grind next year.

·         BE FRIENDLY: Smile at people walking down the beach, chat to the people making your coffee, be patient when you’re in line for your fish & chips. There is no hurry, and you might rediscover how nice people are. It’s easy to forget when your usual interaction with strangers happens during rushed lunchtime errands.

·         CHRISTMAS: Remember what it means to you. For me it’s really about hope, but I’m also a fan of spending time with the people that really matter to me. What about you?

That’s my advice for you. Got any for me? Perhaps I’ll just try to take my own!

Have a great Christmas week. Try to make sure it’s a beautiful one. 

This week has been quite a rollercoaster. Excitement and parties mixed with the loss of belongings and much more significantly, people – not my people, but people close to my people – if you know what I mean.

Sometimes I think I’d willingly sacrifice the ups if it meant I could miss out on the downs. Really though, it would mean I wasn’t living.

There have been some great times that have reminded me of the kindness of people this week though – moments that have made me want to look for opportunities to be good to others.

Thanks to Amie who rescued Suzi and I when we were stranded with no money, cards and phones in Wellington – not only did she feed us, but she took us to the airport and surprised us by booking us in to the airport lounge so we could have a nice place to wait for our flight home. It was heartwarming and generous.

Thanks to the lady who when she realised she’d appropriated our things rang the banks, the hotel and everyone she could to track us down and then got everything back to us as quickly as possible. It’s nice to have my things back, especially all my cellphone contacts!

Thanks to my workmate who totally handled my sudden tears and the girls at the cafe who gave me a cupcake because they could see I was down.

I’m really aware that I’m only feeling a tiny percentage of the pain my dear friends are feeling, and this is so not about me. I just hope that in the months to come I can share a bit of the kindness that has been shared with me this week, especially with my precious friends and perhaps even to randoms who could do with a hand.

I think I may have reached a new level of book geekdom today. I’m delighted. First I was invited, by oodlie (cartoons by Joi Murugavell @joidesign) no less, to join a twitter book club where we not only read books by authors on Twitter but then discuss them WITH the author. I think that is just the most exciting use of social media I’ve heard about for ages. So excited about this. I looked up our first author Kathy Charles and she’s from Melbourne and recommends places for coffee.. win! It’s only 19 days until I land in Melbourne for the first time and I need all the advice I can get. I digress… book club = awesome.

I read a lot, it’s my favourite form of escapism. Last night I started a novel after work and finished in time for The Mentalist. I think the job has something to do with my speed reading. Mostly I get books out of one of the libraries in our fair city. I used to shop around, because they all have different vibes but these days I mostly pop into St Lukes on the way home from work. I got a bunch of books and I’m saving Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters for the trip to Wellington. I need to have a book on hand when out of my natural environment, it just makes me feel happier.

Following my joyous state about the book club, it was suggested that I might like to check out www.goodreads.com, which I did immediately (Thanks Rory). It’s a place for book geeks and other readers to read about book, compare books, write reviews of books and it also tells you where you can buy books. Frankly, it looks a lot more interesting than Bookface is these days.

The question does have to be asked though – do I put up all the books I read, or just the ones that make me look clever, conversant with current events and above chick lit, or do I keep it real and admit my secret love for Georgette Heyer novels? (So you don’t have to look them up, they are harmless but amusing historical novels with stern heros (ala Mr Darcy) and well dressed but slightly ditzy heroines. Pure fluff but endlessly entertaining).

I think, like all social media forums, less may be more. It’s a great site though. Join, add me. Let’s talk books. I promise to not use big words unless they’re especially cool ones. Reading is great for the vocab and wit. Trust me, Or ask a librarian.