Helpful Hints for Healthy Happy Holidays
Do you sometimes feel you need a holiday from your holiday? The Christmas season can be all but restful – drunken in-laws, cantankerous kids, bickering and fighting, greed and selfishness…the list goes on. It is no wonder that some people are happy to go back to work to escape it all.
God set the Sabbath aside as a day of rest and we can still enjoy the holidays to be what God originally designed them for – to rest and recuperate, destress and allow our bodies and minds some time to renew and replenish. Let’s look at some simple tips to get the most out of your time of rest.
Look after your body. Eat healthy. That sounds a little difficult when all of those Christmas goodies are lined up in front of you. But indulging can trigger all sorts of diseases of excess, like indigestion, reflux and gout. Besides, Christmas goodies or excessive amounts of alcohol usually have very little nutritional content, which puts the body under more stress as it tries to deal with the extra fat and sugar hurled in its direction.
Make sure that you balance out the high fat, high sugar cakes, sweets and soft drinks with lots of low GI/low calorie foods like fresh vegetables, salads and whole grains. Watch your portions – try not to eat until you are stuffed! Maintain your regular exercise regime if you can and make sure that you have plenty of water to drink to cope with the heat of summer and watch the extra coffee or alcohol ingested.
Look after your mind. There are usually a lot of things to do over the Christmas break and it often feels like you are trying to out-swim a tsunami, trying to get all the shopping, cleaning, wrapping, and cooking done. Don’t stress. The Sabbath was for mental as well as physical rest. Take time out for yourself. Rest and relaxation involves any activity that makes you feel better at the end than you felt at the beginning. You need to make sure you have a few R&R activities scheduled for yourself over your break.
Don’t worry. There is a lot to do, sure, but listen to what God says, “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let your petitions and praises shape your worry into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life”, (Phi 4:6-7, MSG). Meditating on God and his Word, concentrating on his goodness rather than your grievances, is going to make sure that you feel relaxed at the end of your holidays.
Look after others. Remember, Christmas is a time of giving. It’s so cliché, but it truly is, “more blessed to give than to receive”, (Acts 20:35). After all, this is why we celebrate Christmas in the first place – God gave us his only Son as a gift to the world, that we might have everlasting life. It is only logical then that we should give to others at Christmas time. Acts 20:35 also says, “In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them.”
It is giving, not getting, that defines us as Christians. Yet, often what happens is the more we give the more room God has to give to us, so the more we receive in return. So make sure that you look to give this Christmas, to your family and to those around you in need.
This is an edited extract from “Helpful Hints for Healthy Happy Holidays” by Dr Christopher Pitt, Alive Magazine, December 2008/January 2009.
