How Can I Prevent Feeling Drained After Christmas?

Yo, folks! Let’s dive right into the holiday chaos and stress, 'cause guess what? A recent study showed that a whopping 89% of us are feeling the holiday crunch. How Can I Prevent Feeling Drained After Christmas? Seriously, it’s like we’re supposed to be jolly, but instead, many of us are just drained, financially and emotionally. So today, we’re breaking it down and chatting about how to keep the joy alive without losing our minds or wallets. I’ll share some chill tips on how to simplify things, set limits, and focus on what really matters—like spending time with the fam and reflecting on the true spirit of the season. So grab your favorite drink, kick back, and let’s make this Christmas a blast instead of a burnout!

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Forget the sugarplum dreams; holiday stress is the real nightmare for many of us. With 89% of adults feeling the heat during the holidays, Ralph tackles why Christmas can feel more like a chore than a celebration. We reminisce about our own experiences with over-the-top holiday plans that leave us feeling drained and broke by New Year’s Day. It’s a time that should be filled with peace and joy, but for too many, it’s a stress fest that leads to burnout.

Ralph shares a personal story that hits home about the chaos of Christmas morning, where all the planning turns into a whirlwind of wrapping paper and fleeting moments. But fear not! He’s got a game plan to help us reclaim the joy of the season. The first tip? Slow down! It’s all about simplifying our celebrations and truly soaking in the moments that count. The second point is to set financial and emotional limits to protect our peace. And let’s be real, saying no can be a game-changer in this busy season.

As we dive deeper, Ralph emphasizes that the memories we cherish the most involve connection with our loved ones, not the gifts exchanged. The episode wraps up with a powerful reminder to rest and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, encouraging us to lean into faith for a renewed perspective. This holiday, let’s ditch the stress and embrace the joy with open arms.

Takeaways:

• A whopping 89% of US adults feel stressed during the holidays, which is totally wild, right?
• The holiday season should be joyful, but 41% of people say their stress peaks during this time.
• To avoid holiday burnout, it's crucial to simplify and say no more often than not.
• Focus on making lasting memories with loved ones rather than stressing over gifts and spending.
• Planning ahead with budgets and boundaries can seriously help keep your sanity intact during the holidays.
• Rest and reflection are key; take time to appreciate the true meaning of the season.

Links referenced in this episode:

• financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join

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Episode Transcript

(00:28):
Listen to this. A 2023 APAstudy found that 89% of US adults
feel stressed during theholidays. Wait a second. It's supposed
to be a joyous time of year.Listen to this one. 41% say their
stress is higher than at anyother time of year. And 43% describe
the holidays as both joyfuland stressful. Listen to this one.

(00:49):
The Texas health resourcesreport. 38% experience increased
stress leading to depression,anxiety and burnout. Man, this is
supposed to be a joy season.Which leads us to today's listener
question. Ralph, every year Ifeel completely drained emotionally,
financially and evenspiritually after Christmas. I love
the season, but by the timeit's over, I'm exhausted and broke.

(01:13):
How can I change that? Youknow, it's strange. Christmas is
supposed to bring peace andjoy, but for many of us, me included,
sometimes it leaves usstressed and, and it leaves us worn
out. We spend too much, we dotoo much, and we simply forget to
be still sometimes. So let'sdiscuss on today's show how to prevent
that this year and truly havea joyous Christmas.

(01:35):
This is Financially ConfidentChristian, your daily dose of gospel,
grounded insight and faithdriven tips to help you break the
cycle of financial shame with confidence.
Welcome to the show everybody.I'm Ralph and this is the Daily show
with the goal of helping youbreak that cycle of financial shame
and live in financialconfidence. And I'm an accountant,

(01:56):
I'm a financial coach. And letme just tell you right now, having
worked in this industry for 30years, I've seen that post Christmas
money hangover just completelysuck the life out of people. And
as a believer, I've learnedfirsthand to make this season about
worship, not weariness. AndI'm going to tell you today, I want
to start a story about. Iremember my kids were really young.

(02:16):
My wife and I were so excited.It was Christmas. We can remember
getting all the gifts inorder. Man, we were doing everything,
make sure all the toys wereput together, all that sort of thing.
Man, we just took all kinds ofprep day, you know, several days
before Christmas. And I'llnever forget it. That morning, Christmas
morning the kids were up superearly. I think it was like 3am If
I remember correctly. And wewandered downstairs and beautiful

(02:38):
Christmas trees shining allthe lights and man, it was the Rockwell
version of Christmas. And letme think about when I think about
it now, in about five minutes,man, these kids had torn these presents
open. There was stuffeverywhere. My wife and I just sat
there and went, wow, all thatwork and it was over. Talk about
a letdown. And of course, thencame January's financial reality

(03:00):
and I'll forget. A friend saidto me, she said, if you need a vacation
from celebrating Jesus, you'redoing it wrong. And that line stuck
with me ever since. And that'swhat we want to focus on today because
it's so easy to forget thereason for the season. We hear that
bantered around duringChristmas and I spoke about this
the other day and we talkabout this during our whole series.
So today I really want tofocus in on how do I prevent that

(03:21):
holiday drain. Because so manyof us feel that holiday drain and
if we're prepared for it, Itruly believe we can conquer it and
we really can find joy in theholiday season. So here's my four
point plan to avoid thatholiday drain. Number one thing,
slow down and simplify. Somany people let the calendar control
them. They say yes toeverything. But you, what you have

(03:43):
to understand is when you sayyes to everything, you're not saying
yes to peace. You're notsaying yes to margin doesn't have
to be a production. So manyfamilies make Christmas this huge
production. But really whatit's all about, when you really think
about it, when you think aboutthe most memorable times of Christmas
that you've ever had, itwasn't about the production, it wasn't

(04:04):
about the gifts, it wasn'tabout the food. Now I like some good
Christmas food and some goodChristmas cookies. Now I'm going
to tell you right there, I'mright there on that. But what I truly
remember is family being themost important and really embracing
the greatest gift of all. Andthat's our Savior, Jesus Christ.
So first thing I'm going toencourage you to do is slow down
and simplify. It's okay to sayno sometimes. Which leads me to my

(04:26):
second tip today. Set limits.This is both financial and boundaries.
Make a budget. Make, you know,psychological boundaries, make some
emotional boundaries beforeDecember even starts. That's why
we're recording this episodein November. I want to bring these
to you so you're prepared. Sayno. Because those extras that drain
your wallet or soul will justmake this season so filled with anxiety

(04:50):
and it'll make you getdepressed and all those types of
things. It's okay to say no.Listen to me right now. If you don't
hear anything else I saytoday, it's okay to say no. Just
communicate that in love toyour family members. It's okay to
say listen. This year we'regoing to take it down A little bit.
We're not going to get sodramatic. We're going to be so elaborate
with everything. But it's allabout planning it. See, that's the

(05:10):
key, communication andplanning. Because listen, if you're
one of those families that hasthese big elaborate things, well,
if you just go cold turkey,all of a sudden, paper going away,
what happened? You know, thiswasn't the same Christmas we're used
to, but make that budget, makethose boundaries, set it ahead of
time, communicate with it andlay out a plan. So that's my second
thing. Third thing, and I'vealluded to this a couple times already,

(05:32):
this is a season to focus onpeople, focus on your kids. You know,
one of the things I thinkabout now, my kids are 24 and 28
years old. And what I remembernow is the laughter. I remember the
connection. I don't rememberthe gifts. I don't remember all the
wrapping paper and mess, man.I remember just sitting on the ground
with them and playing withtheir toys and just kind of kicking
around on Christmas Day andjust enjoying all that went into

(05:54):
it. Because you're not goingto remember the gifts, but you will
remember the people. Andespecially as I get older and there's.
There's more people in therear view mirror, if you know what
I mean. More people that havepassed on that just aren't there
anymore. That's what I reallyfocus in on Christmas. So listen,
before you even get started inDecember, focus on the people. And
last but not least, this is atime to rest and reflect. You might

(06:18):
be saying, wait, wait asecond, Ralph, you probably should
have put that one first. Yeah,probably should have. Because this
is the time to spend timethanking God for what he's already
done. He's already given youthe greatest gift that you will ever
receive. No one can go toNeiman Marcus or to one of the fancy
department stores and get youa gift that Christ has already given
you. So make this season atime to focus on your faith. What's

(06:40):
the reason that you'recelebrating? What does the birth
of Jesus really mean to you?Make this a time of renewal and make
it a time to build a betterperspective. We can get so lost in
the busyness of this and allthe noise of the holiday that we
lose sight of this time ofrenewal and faith and really deep
down, get into a betterperspective. Which leads us to our
Bible verse today. This onecomes to us from the book of Matthew.

(07:03):
It's from chapter 11, verse28. And it says this. It says, come
to Me, all you who are wearyand burdened, and I will give you
rest. And I just love thatbecause what I think the scriptures
are speaking to us here. Whenyou're weary, when you're burdened,
listen, the holidays bringthat out. It starts in Thanksgiving.
You know, it starts inNovember with Thanksgiving, and then

(07:24):
it just kind of climaxes inChristmas. But so many people are
weary, they're burdened,they're wore out. So just lean into
Christ during those timesbecause he made this promise to you.
Come to me, all of you who areweary and burdened, and. And I will
give you rest. But while we'retalking about rest, how about we
pray right now? Father God, wecome to you and we just ask that
you would help us to rest inyour presence this holiday season,

(07:47):
not in productivity, Lord. Andwe ask that you would grant us wisdom
to create those boundaries andprotect the peace that you've given
us. Lord, you say to us, yougave us peace. Well, help us to create
those boundaries and say nowhen we need to say no to protect
our peace. And, Lord, we justthank you so much for the. The gift
of simplicity. And we canreally say this in complete assurance

(08:08):
that you are enough. It's notabout the gifts under the tree. It's
not about the beautifulChristmas settings and all the Christmas
lights and all the dormantsthat go around it, Lord. It's really
about that simple gift ofJesus being sent to us, the best
gift we'll ever receive. So weask all these things in the name
of Jesus. Amen. Okay, youready for your action item today?

(08:28):
Here's what I want you to do.I want you to build rest into your
schedule. What? Right now,before the weekends, I want you to
block off one quiet night foryourself and for family. Listen,
no shopping, no screens. Putthose phones away. Just gratitude,
prayer, and stillness. I talkabout this on the show all the time.
Sometimes we're so caught upin the noise that we can't hear God's

(08:50):
just silent voice. So justplan on that. And as you do that
this week, I'm going toencourage you, get that calendar
out and plan several of thesefor over the holidays. Man, you will
see a huge impact becauseyou're building in that rest. You're
building in that renewal, andyou're building in that truly getting
to the point of what is thereason we're celebrating this season.

(09:10):
Now, before I wrap up today, Iwant to tell you something. We just
launched something amazing. Iwant to invite you to be part of
something special. We justlaunched. What I'm calling the Financially
Confident Christian CommunityNow. This is the place where believers
just like you can growtogether. We can share encouragement,
we can share prayer requestsand, and help spread God's truth
about money. And listen,here's how you do it. It's really
super simple. All you gotta dois go to this website, go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join.

(09:36):
I'll give you that one moretime and we'll put it in the show
notes. But it's financiallyconfidentchristian.com join because
there you're not justsupporting the show, you're helping
to build a community of faithand freedom that reaches people all
over the world. So I'm gonnaencourage you right now. Come be
a part of what God is doingthrough this mission. Again, that's
atfinanciallyconfidentchristian.com/join. It

(09:56):
won't cost you a dime. Butplease, please consider joining our
community today. And listen tome. You don't have to recover from
Christmas. You can be renewedthrough it. Because true rest doesn't
come from control. It actuallycomes from surrender. And it comes
from Christ. So let peace, notpressure, define your season this
year. Remember, the greatestgift after Christmas is a heart of

(10:17):
rest in him. So go out theretoday and be that financially confident
Christian that I know you canbe. Stay financially savvy. Go. God
bless you. And I'll see youagain tomorrow on the show.