A group of my friends were recently discussing how to, basically, straighten up and fly right over the holidays.

This always leads into much discussion about how we'll keep ourselves healthy and well during the holidays, a time when it's ridiculously easy to overindulge and marinate ourselves in All-Things-Indulgent. As for me, I try to keep active and remember that, in the end, it's just food.

Most of it is stuff I've eaten before, and will likely eat again, so there is no need for me to go off half-cocked and vacuum up a pile of mashed potatoes because it's, you know, the holidays. By that same token, if I happen to overeat, it's not as though I've just snorted up a mountain of blow off of a hooker's stomach, so there is no need to lecture or flagellate myself over it all.

It's just food.

More than anything, it's worth noting that the essence of the holidays is to be joyful. To celebrate, to give thanks, to be happy and grateful for the many gifts in our lives. The time we take to head up meetings of the Secret Self-Loathing Society during the holidays is time we take away from doing more awesome things like remembering how fortunate we are to have these bodies in the first place.

I think we're all so conditioned to beat up on ourselves when it comes to food and our bodies. None of us are very good at treating ourselves with loving kindness - having patience, looking at exercise and healthy eating as good things to do, meditating, sleep, etc. We're always looking to punish ourselves for any perceived misstep.

The best thing we can do this holiday season is to give ourselves a break.

Posted by Erin at 10:59 AM | filed under: Random