The Heart of Christmas

By: Melody Dizon

 

And so variations of green, different shades of red, sparkly gold and shimmery silver linings are filling up my evening wardrobe, decoratvie lights shine brightly in people’s homes and the sound of holiday cheer is in the atmosphere, it’s safe to say that yes- Christmas season is here. I love Christmas and everything that goes with it, except when unrelenting headaches are here for days because of chaotic schedules, slippery road conditions, longer travel times on the road, the dropping temperatures and flu signs and symptoms, thats’ when I say “hold up”, I’m overwhelmed. I guess even for naturally relaxed people, the buzzing holiday joy can easily turn into havoc. The increased spending, increased travel, logistics, hosting, calories, cold and flu bugs, pleasing, guilt, time, and not to mention being reminded of someone who used to be there many Christmases ago, it brings a lot of mixed emotions and feelings – grief.

Through my reads, I have compiled expert’s analysis, suggestions and recommendations to at least get a shot at enjoying the holiday season

1. Pace Yourself

Intentional pacing is important. “All the signs will be pushing you to do more, interact more, accomplish more than anyone is capable of,” one psychologist pointed out. “This will drive your baseline anxiety levels up.” By pacing our activities, we can actually do more for longer while keeping our anxiety in check. The key is not to overdo it. “Pay attention to your schedule, particularly to events that are anxiety triggers so that you don’t end up burnt out and resentful.” Remember: Self-care is not selfishness.

2. Focus on Gratitude

There’s a lot of evidence that gracious isn’t just a nice thing to be—it also greatly facilitates in coping with stress. “The way we think influences the way we feel and behave. If we focus on the negative, then the way we view the world becomes much dimmer. In contrast, if you can find elements of gratitude and focus on those, you are likely to be more content.” Fortunately during the holidays, there’s plenty to be grateful for. You can start with the obvious: loved ones, a roof over your head, good food, and presents.

3. Practice the Art of Letting Go

The holidays often mean family, and family can sometimes open up old wounds. It can feel like they just don’t “get” you—but they certainly get how to push those buttons! Stop, Breathe & Think and learn how to “let go” can help with “feeling compelled to fix or change [family].” The holidays are the worst time to try to achieve perfection—it doesn’t exist. When you start to feel tense or you notice your heart rate going up, it’s time for a body scan. It’s time to let go.

4. Fully Engage with Your Loved Ones

The holidays are one of the few excuses left to turn off your phone and really get away. “Connect face-to-face with someone you love. Immerse yourselves in something you like to do together. Enjoy being fully present and focused on that activity, it may reduce emotional reactivity to negative stimuli.”

5. Prioritize Silence and Meditative Tasks

Don’t think about it as “me time.” Think about it as “necessary to survive time.” Focus on quiet, meditative tasks or anything that you find enjoyable is perfect. To keep a pulse on your feelings, experts recommend checking stress levels often— measuring them on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being completely stressed out). Do this morning, noon, afternoon, and night. “If you see yourself hovering around a 5 to 7, then engage in these [meditative] activities.” It will help you stay and feel balanced. The holidays trigger all kinds of feelings—but you can have a handle on which ones they trigger. Ultimately, remember that your mental health is your biggest gift—to yourself and everyone around you.

Maintain a healthy heart this Christmas

Occasional indulgence is okay. But over indulgence can easily become the norm during the holiday season. All of this can set alarm bells ringing when it comes to heart health.

1. Don’t go overboard

Be realistic and buy what you need or you will find you will isltl be eating mince pies, quality street and dried figs in January as mindless eating can be your downfall. Those little nibbles add up and these nutrient deficient foods will ensure you pile on the pounds.”

2. Keep it natural

“Opt for colourful plates packed with antioxidant rich vegetables, fruit and nuts, which are full of healthy oils, magnesium, vitamin E, selenium, l-arginine and zinc which all help to protect your heart. Some studies have also shown the antioxidants in dark chocolate can prevent bad cholesterol from sticking to your artery walls. Tomatoes should also be high on the list of anybody worrying about heart health this Christmas, as they are rich in lycopene, which has been clinically proven to actively help protect against high blood pressure, heart disease and cholesterol.

3. Plan ahead

Planning in advance may keep you from making bad food choices further down the line. Plan your meals, and fill your freezer with homemade ready meals to eat when you are busy or entertaining over Christmas. Before you go out to party, ensure you have eaten a good healthy meal.

4. Get drink savvy

Nobody wants to be seen as a party pooper but sometimes you just want to refrain from too much alcohol. Always keep bottles of water handy in the fridge – dehydration causes headaches, constipation and a sluggish body

5. Overindulged

Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve gone a bit overboard this festive season, as there are quick and simple ways to go about refreshing and re-energizing your body.”Tomato juice is the perfect cure for a hangover. Add a few drops of Milk Thistle, which helps the liver to detox, and you can get on with your day. My personal favourite for detoxing is Green tea, which is brilliant for heart health. Try mint green tea too, as it is packed with antioxidants and is also great to help settle an upset tummy, nausea and aid digestion.”

6. Snack smart

The main event on Christmas Day may be the lunch, but making sure you have breakfast will help to stop you picking at fatty and sugary foods during the morning. Make mini smaller portions. Eat seasonal fruits.

7. Be Active

You should still perform your fitness routine whenever possible and if you can’t do that, simply walk more, park your car some distance away from the store or just use the stairs! Always remember to perform your strength exercises training in order to maintain that muscle mass you worked hard to get.

8. Set realistic goals

Set realistic exercise objectives. Aim for at least half an hour per day for exercise. Recognizing and changing behaviours that contribute to your stress will help you get through the Christmas period. Remember to stay healthy – eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep can help you cope with Christmas stress.

9. Enjoy yourself

Also make sure to set realistic diet plans! Trying to refrain yourself from some foods will only make you eat more. Feel free to enjoy the treats that you really love, but in small portions.

10. Drink a lot of water

This can satuate your appetite as well as keep you hydrated at all times. And it also prevent a possible hangover if you overdo it with alcohol.

11. Eat less and more often

Distribute your meals evenly throughout the day and do not eat everything at once. Instaed of having 2 enormous meals, have 5 small ones. Eat your dinner earlier and have a nice walk before going to bed.

12. Managing loneliness

There are ways to overcome loneliness if you find yourself isolated or grieving a loved one over the Christmas period.

• Connect with friends and family. Even if you’re separated by distance, you can stay in touch with loved ones online or by phone.

• Volunteer. Why not lend a hand to a local shelter over Christmas? There are lots of charities who need help. You’ll connect with people and feel good about making a positive contribution.

• Attend community events. Find out what’s on locally and get involved. Whether it’s Christmas carols or local markets, getting out and about can help relieve loneliness.

• Make plans for Christmas Day. Develop a plan in advance to avoid feeling depressed or stressed on the day. Perhaps make yourself a special breakfast, buy yourself a gift in advance so that you can enjoy on the day, attend a local church service or take a stroll through the local park where you can watch families enjoying their Christmas presents.

So what is the heart of Christmas?

After giving you, my readers the necessary steps to take care of your heart this Christmas, let us look deeper as to what the heart of Christmas is really all about. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, who was born in manger. This was where the first Christmas truly originated, when God gave His only begotten son to us – Emmanuel, Savior of the world.

We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. All else around us are plain distraction.

Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! Jesus is the Heart of Christmas!

This Christmas season, give the gift Jesus Christ wants us to give; the gift of ourselves. Amid the shopping and commercialism, focus on the reason we’re celebrating and remember to keep Christ in Christmas. May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender, caring heart as a gift to our Savior

And this is my story, the heart of my Christmas this year:

Hearing once more the diagnosis that crumbled my world, I could literally feel my heart skip a beat. 8 weeks back, as I was walking the hallway at the hospital where my 21 year old nephew is battling for his life against cardiomyopathy, it seemed like marching towards a life sentence with no bargaining capacity. 5 1/2 years ago, my sister was taken away from us, undiagnosed with that heart condition. It is when the heart fails to function as a muscle and becomes ineffective as a pump, hence because the heart is the heart of all, all organs fails. At that point, you need a “new heart” to live. And as if being put on the top of the heart transplant list would make things easier, seeing my nephew hooked up to all kinds of tubes any hole you could see in his lifeless body, we all end up on our knees, begging our Heavenly Father to spare him, to give him a donor or to heal him completely. Surrounded by my large family, when his beaten body couldn’t take fever spikes of 110 degrees or more, with kidneys failing, liver collapsing, lungs deteriorating- we know we couldn’t hang on to him any longer than we should. We let our dear Kyle go and the daunting question now lies, do we have that fateful dreaded disease in our bloodline too? Cardiologists at the University where my nephew was treated strongly advised us to have ourselves evaluated because of the close proximity of me and my sister- blood line, genetics, me, my kids, hereditary – I get it. Imagine what went on my head going through grief, reliving my sister’s death then the realization that we also may be a carrier of that same illness. I made the earliest appointment I could to see my primary for the test to be ordered. So the day came, uneventful as it was, I’d have to wait for it to be read. I received the call when we were at the reception after the burial, doctor says, “your heart is stiff on the left side, some dysfunction and irregularity there but continue with diet and exercise and you’ll be fine. “I said, wait what does that mean? She really cannot elaborate any further but the words resounded to me like a gong all afternoon. I was shocked but I paused and I prayed, Father – You know when I breathe and when I stand, I offer this to You. I downplayed the information to the family to the best that I can and reading on the web doesn’t help it either. It only proves, it’s in the beginning stages of developing cardiomyopathy later on in life. I’ve shared to my closest friends my deepest concern. We prayed and lifted to God and sang praises to Him, rejoicing His works. We believe that God can heal, that God hears prayers and God can cancel any pre destined diseases. We asked God for favors. We gathered family members and lifted this up to the Lord. As a nurse, there is that side of me that I have to do. I had forwarded all my readings and actual CD to my cousin- cardiologist who is proficient at reading echocardiogram. As what he claims “that’s what I practically do everyday”. You see, whatever he has to say will have “all the right” as he is experienced in this field and has my direct blood line. I waited patiently. I prayed fervently. I claimed His victory. I believed God in all His glory. Then my cardiologist- cousin called and he said, his exact words “The cardiologist may have read it wrong. I do not see any indication at all that there is dysfunction or stiffness. There is no evidence whatsoever of that conclusion. It’s an overread. There is no cardiomyopathy.“ Those words, those words were powerful and it brought tears, tears of joy- for my God favored me! I claimed under the heavens His good and mighty works! His songs are in my heart. I have healed you. People can say it’s an easy miscalculation of the numbers, it’s an overread, the angulation of the heart may have been construed when they took the pictures – you can say whatever you want. You can believe whatever you want to believe. There could be many could’ve beens but my Father couldn’t have been wrong. He knew it all along. He is too wise to be mistaken and too good to be unkind. So whose report are you going to believe? My God – the God of Abraham, the God of Moses – is alive and real. He is true and ever so present! Praise His Holy name. Because there is power in the name of Jesus! To break every chain, There’s an army rising up, to break every chain. There is blood in the name of Jesus to break every chain.

Psalm 23:1-5

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

MALIGAYANG PASKO PO SA INYONG LAHAT AT MANIGONG BAGONG TAON!