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• A number of factors, including unrealistic expectations, financial pressures, and too many commitments can cause stress at holiday time.
• Certain people may feel depressed around the winter holidays due to Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD), sometimes referred to as seasonal depression.

• Some  possibilities of poorly managed holiday stress can be excessive drinking, overeating and insomnia.

• Those suffering from any type of holiday depression or stress can benefit from increased social support during this time of year. Counseling or support groups can also be beneficial.
• In addition to being an important step in preventing the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, regular exposure to light that is bright, particularly fluorescent lights, significantly improves depression in people with SAD during the fall and winter.
• Setting realistic goals and expectations, reaching out to friends, sharing tasks with family members, finding inexpensive ways to enjoy yourself, and helping others are all ways to help beat holiday stress.

The winter holiday season, including Christmas, Hanukkah, and Thanksgiving, for most people is a fun time of the year filled with parties, celebrations, and social gatherings with family and friends. But for many people, it is a time filled with sadness, self-reflection, loneliness, and anxiety.

This poem was written by one of the many German-Jewish authors of the first world war.

GOLDFELD

(Killed during the war: no details available;no more is known about him, not even his first name.)

TO A MISSING FRIEND

You have no grave, no cross … but you did die.

Maybe in some dark thicket your bones lie

Or you were sunk in swamp in deep of night,

Or Cossacks cruelly robbed you of the light.

And when it was and where and how …and why

I know not: death in forest does not cry.

You are a skull now white-bleached by the rain

Round which the weasel lightly leaves its train.

You are the ploughed earth on which horses stand

You are the grain that once did crown the land

You are the bread the farmer once did eat

You are the strength when peace returns to greet.

Translated by Peter Appelbaum

“Help is now a phone call away for people struggling with the care of family members.

The toll-free Canada Cares Caregiver Support Line has been set up to provide advice and direction for family caregivers trying to find answers on their own. The not-for-profit group, Canada Cares, provides supports for caregivers of all kinds across the country.

Winnipeg residents can call 1-855-619-5021 for advice, or check out the website for a list of local home and residential care services at www.canadacares.org.”

For a test of this new site, I looked up some information on resources in my area. Keep note that you have to have access to your email to do this; a message is sent to your address, click on a link (in your email) then click on another link (in the site). The list does not appear in your email for easy reference.

Caregivers often make the mistake of trying to do too much by themselves or failing to recognize the benefits of long-term problem solving over short-term relief.

I have finally caught up to the Zumba craze! I take it every Wednesday at a place that is tucked away, but is friendly and the instructor is 1 1/2 times my age not 1/2 my age and sometimes I have problems keeping up with her.

The ladies are great and notice when you are not there, only to ask you about it the following week.  This is a great way to keep fit in a group setting. If you are worried about what you look like doing it, or not sure about coordination. Don’t, you are to busy trying to follow the instructor and enjoying the music to care.

Check it out  http://beewellnessinc.com/Bee_Wellness.html