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Greetings!
How did the holidays come upon us so fast?
The turmoil of the holiday season is here!
It's a joyous as well as chaotic time filled
with guests, activities, and lots and lots of
details. Santa's not the only one with lists.
We rush around and are more susceptible to
stress so be sure to save your sanity during
the holidays. Take special moments so you can
be mindful of the spirit of the
holidays to be sure the warmth and
opportunities for pleasure come through.
Pace yourself, be sure you make time to relax
and absorb all of the wonderful memories
you'll be creating as you celebrate the
holidays and enter 2008. Be present when you
are with friends and family and focus on the
good you have in your life. Know that you
will need Patience and Perseverance to
get through not only the holidays but also
whatever may be happening in your life at
this time so pay close attention to ways you
can develop your patience as you persevere
along your path.
Because many of us are hosting guests at the
holidays it is important that you are mindful
of what you need as well as what they need
when you are sharing your home. Surviving
the Holidays will help you think about ways
to manage and enjoy opportunities when guests
are in your home.
Once again thank you for helping to get the
word out about Sanity Savers: Tips for Women
to Live a Balanced Life (perfect for the
holidays.)
Check my website, www.drdaleatkins.com
for updates on my appearances related to my
newest book, Sanity
Savers: Tips for Women to Live a Balanced
Life. I am proud to be a member of the
Westin Renewal Council, whose purpose
is to
help people live the best life wherever they
are. Please click Westin
Renewal Council for some personal renewal
tips. And if you
would like
me to speak to your group or organization,
please contact me directly at
dale@drdaleatkins.com or contact the
Speakers' Bureau at HarperCollins.
I appreciate you sharing this newsletter with
your
friends, loved ones and colleagues by
clicking Send
to a Friend button below.
Wishing you a Happy Hannukah, Merry
Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa, General Holiday
Joy and Happy New Year along with health,
peace and balance in 2008.
Dale
Sanity Savers: Tips for Women to Live a Balanced Life
In Bookstores! |
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SANITY SAVERS: Tips for Women to
Live A
Balanced Life is in bookstores and
is filled
with suggestions to save
your
sanity
every day of the year.
A must for any woman
seeking to find her balance!
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Sanity SaversTM
Patience and Perseverance |
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These are both the watchwords and the lessons.
You are diagnosed with a challenging illness.
You are having a difficult time with a
relative or someone at work. Your financial
situation is really tough and the holidays
are here and you want to buy great presents
but don't know how without going into debt.
You are waiting for your new career to take
off and it just hasn't matched your fantasy
time table.
Make a plan and then see how you want to see
it to fruition, understanding that most plans
become altered along the way because that is
what happens in life. Things change and we
need to adapt.
When something is really important to you,
understand that it may not be that important
to someone else. That does not mean that YOU
are not important so don't take it
personally. Sometimes, you must be patient
and wait till someone gets around to reading
your resume, or your proposal, or returning
your phone call. And sometimes, you need to
persevere and help yourself get to the top of
their list. Some people need to have a little
"nudge" from time to time to keep what
is important to you on their radar screen. So
that is what this is also about: keeping what
we know is important in the forefront so
other people see why it is important. And
then it becomes important to them too.
Whatever you are facing, remember there is
always an ebb and flow. Understand this deep
in your soul so you can have clarity about
when to relax and when to push. It is all about
Patience and
Perseverance.
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| Happenings |
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TODAY Show (NBC)
December 8th: Marriage
New Morning Show
December 17th: 7AM: Mending
Hallmark Channel
Getting Your Money's Worth, hosted by
Judith West
December 6th: 2:45PM
Good News Broadcasting, Time Warner Cable
Channel 34 (or channel 78), RCN 83, and live
streaming on the Web at MNN.org at 8:30 am on
Sunday mornings.
The Real Life Survivor Guide, hosted
by Bruce Barber
December 9th: 3PM: College Kids Coming
Home for Holidays
WNPR Connecticut Public Radio, www.wnpr.org,
and www.rlsguide.com
Sisterhood of Temple B'nai
Abraham
December 4th: 11:30AM:
Speaker,
Stress Management
Livingston, NJ
Women's Executive Roundtable
December 6th: 11:30AM -12:30PM: Featured
Speaker,
Sanity Savers for the
Holidays
Marriott East Side Hotel, New
York, NY
St. Louis Jewish Book Fair
December 17th: 8PM
St. Louis,
MO
See article on Sanity Savers in the
November, 2007 issue of Black Tie
http://atlanticapps.com/acb/current_issue4.htm
Dr. Dale is featured in the
December, 2007 issue of Westport
Magazine, p. 70
www.westportmag.com
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Sanity SaversTM
A Good Daily Habit |
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Practice Gratitude
It is easy to overlook the good things in
your life, especially when you feel
overwhelmed with challenges. Taking time out
daily to think about the things you are
grateful for in your life can help reset your
outlook on life.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It
turns what we have into enough, and more. It
turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order,
confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into
a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into
a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today and creates a vision
for tomorrow."
-Melody Beattie
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Sanity SaversTM TIPS
Surviving Your Holidays:
Guests Who Disturb Your Peace |
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Sometimes hosting brings along with it the
need to have people stay with you who not
only are inconsiderate guests but are
people who annoy you, get under your skin, or
are staying with you because of an obligation
you feel to invite them for the holidays.
Whatever the reason, you may find
that you have a person (or people) in your
"inner sanctum." Maybe you feel as if being
in your own home
on the holidays is exactly where you want to
be but you are not so thrilled with ALL of
the folks who are coming home for the
holidays. Or maybe
you would be thrilled if they were there for
part of the time. Your
home is
often your very own sanctuary where you look
forward to getting away from the stresses of
everyday life and now you fear you are going
to be invaded. In fact, what you now realize
is that one of the major stressors in your
life has taken up residency in your guest
room going through your things. What to do?
Consider these tips:
- Find Downtime - Do
something that you enjoy, find relaxing,
restorative, or nurturing. Make time for
yourself at both the beginning and end of the
day so you can treat yourself to a calming
meditation, a quiet walk, some time in the
garden or in an aromatic tub. Recharging your
battery is
important when you have someone in your space
who disturbs the peace.
- Plan Ahead - Try to plan events
where you are with the person in small doses.
Enlist other guests to "entertain" this
particular person so you do not have full
time responsibility. Be willing to include
other people who
are easy to be with to take away some of the
pressure. Consider doing chores with the
person such as giving them part of your list
for items at the market. They will feel
useful and you
will benefit from their help.
- Schedule Events - Have a schedule
of events and stick to it as best you can.
Changing activities and venues allows you to
be engaged with your guests while alleviating
some of the predictable stress.
- Overlook Criticisms - If they
criticize your space, your interior
decoration, the fact that the plumbing sings
when the shower is on remind them that this
is your refuge and you like it as it is but
understand it can be a challenge to those who
are not used to it. You may think ducking
your head to get into the dormer bedroom is
quaint but your tall houseguest may wonder
how many bruises he will have when he leaves.
You can endure the not-so-perfect guest. It
may be helpful to consider this time with
guests as learning opportunities about
yourself and others, adding a whole new
level of tolerance and dimension to your
relationships.
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| A Thought |
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What lies behind us and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared to what lies within
us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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DALE V. ATKINS Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist,
lecturer and commentator in the media who
appears
on the Today show. She has more than twenty-
five
years of experience and focuses on living a
balanced
life, parenting, aging well, managing stress,
life &
work transitions, family connections and healthy
relationships. Dr. Atkins is the author
and/or co-editor of several books including:
SistersFrom the
Heart:
Men
and
Women Write
Their Private Thoughts about their Private
Lives
Families and their Hearing-Impaired
Children
I'm
OK, You're My Parents
How
to Overcome
Guilt,
Let Go of Anger and Create a Relationship that
Works
Wedding Sanity Savers
How to
Handle the Stickiest Dilemmas, Scrapes and
Questions that Arise on the Road to Your Perfect
Day.And her
new
book . . .
Sanity
Savers: Tips for Women to
Live a
Balanced Life.
Find out more....
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As Seen on the TODAY SHOW!Wedding Sanity Savers
How to Handle the Stickiest Dilemmas, Scrapes and Questions that Arise on the Road to Your Perfect Day
I'm OK
You're My Parents
How to Overcome Guilt, Let Go of Anger, and Create a Relationship That WorksNow in Paperback!
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