Whew, that title is a mouthful, right? Nonetheless, aren’t you excited; it is Christmas time! Christ-mass celebration is when we as Believers celebrate our Lord and Savior’s birth. It is just such a happy time. I don’t care what has transpired this year or how it looks, I am proclaiming and declaring that it’s a marvelous and a historical time to be alive, at least for the Christ-follower.

So many lost loved ones this year. I lost people near and dear to me, but I’m alive. And I choose to reflect on those loved ones, their story, and the impact and the influence they had on me, and my leadership. 

And that’s the topic of today’s article, the influence of stress on extraordinary leadership and family ties. I usually begin my podcast, with, “this is Dr. Ruth, where our vow to tell you the truth, and never lie because the greatest part of the word truth is Ruth, and I am Ruth.”

Nonetheless, I want you to imagine life without distress. Did you know there are many types of stress? It’s rarely talked about because many do not know about the different forms of stress. We’re going to discuss two of them in this article. 

The first form is eustress, the good stress that empowers you. Eustress motivates and gives you that little bit of oomph to get up out of bed in the morning when you’re still tired from the night before. Eustress motivates, aids in executing essential activities, and fosters the mindset of, “I have things to do.”

And distress is the elongated form of the word stress that derives from anxiety. It is toxic stress that wears down the body, mind, emotions, and thought processes. It causes forgetfulness and possible panic attacks. It can lead to depression and other types of mental, emotional, and physical disease when prolonged.

If you’re going through a stressful time in life, read on and find out how to have no-mess, low stress, honey get you some rest Christmas. I emphasized the title because we have all had to endure this year’s craziness. But there is a need to slow down, breathe, and take in the season.

And…  

Here are a few tips for a

no-mess, low stress, and

get some rest at Christmas.

1.  No money, no presents, no problem. If you have a little money, then “everybody is a winner, winner, chicken dinner.” Everybody wins WHEN you thank God that still you have each other and that’s present alone. Consider this, some people lost loved ones this year.
2. If you have little money, then find out what each person wants and get that one gift that will make the essential difference in that person’s life.
3. Or just rescheduled gift-giving for another time when you have more money.
4. Have an unChristmas, Christmas. Okay, everyone dresses up in crazy clothes and see who can cause the most laughter. If you usually do the ugly sweater then go over and beyond. Do ugly outfit! Look as silly as you possibly can and get them to laugh. The Bible says that laughter is good and like medicine. It’s good for the bones.
5. Connect everyone across the country via one of the online platforms like freeconference.com or Zoom. Facebook groups are useful to communicate with your family and FREE! So can feel as if you’re together. Those mediums are a great way to say, “hi, I love you.”   
6. Once connected online, have the family eat dinner at the same time. Need a little help planning the whole experience, email us and we’ll help you have 21 hours of fun, and three hours of sleep. Lol. We want to help you have that fantastic Christmas.
7. Give away prizes or handmade gifts like books, journals, scarves, cookies, candies, socks, whatever videos, anything you can do to show love to your loved one.
8. Okay, so how about having a Bake Off? Gather your family, and make cookies, pies, cakes, or whatever and decorate them, hold them to the camera. Your competition could incorporate cooks and taste testers.
9. Have the family take the Five Love Languages test. I offer that assessment free. Reach out to me via email at drruth@drruthcharles.com. Learn your loved ones’ love language or what speaks love to them. Everyone in the family takes the 5 to10 minute test.
10. If you can gather, bring a big bag of unmarked presents to pass out after each person has finished the test and you know the love languages. You may find out that Aunt Gertrude likes candles; so, pass off the candle to her. If the person’s love language is quality time, click here for help with that gift.   
11. After dinner, mask up, practice social distancing, and go outside and take a brisk walk through the neighborhood and work off that delicious.
12. Or have an outdoor family football, basketball, kickball, soccer, whatever floats your boat game.
13. End the evening by getting some board games to play. Form teams, play separately or have a tournament. Give away prizes or trophies and have a good time.
14. Finally, make someone’s day that doesn’t have family or friends around. Demonstrate what true love and leadership is all about. Just because you are a leader does not mean that you can’t show your generous heart by connecting with those on your team in a more concerning manner.

Well, that’s all I have for you today. Go and find your way to celebrate with family and friends because there’s nothing like human connection. But if you find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed and don’t know why,

*Now that’s a Hot Cup of tRuth w/ Dr.Ruth