BONUS: How to Handle Holiday Stress (with Steve Austin)

Welcome to this BONUS EPISODE of "Catching Your Breath: The Podcast" with Steve Austin.

In this episode, I respond to listener questions about how to deal with holiday stress. Steve will answer questions about faith, family, finances, and funk.

Here are a few of the questions in this episode:

1. I’m going to be around my dad, stepmom, and my stepsister this Christmas. They are all very fundamental, charistmatic Christians. I haven’t been around these people in years. I do have an escape plan, but I’m afraid they’re going to try and pressure me into going back to church. Do you have any advice to keeping your cool?

2. Do you have any tips for dealing with dysfunctional family members?

3. Many foster kids are usually stressed out by the holidays. So by proxy we are stressed out when our kids are dysregulated. How do we handle this before it ruins the holidays for everyone?

4. I’ve got a lot going on this season. Kids! Parties! Church programs! Shopping! Wrapping! How do I find time for me?

5. How do I get my child through the holidays? This is a hard time of year for him, and I feel like I fail to get him through it. He sees his therapist and I try to make sure we get extra quality time together, but he still struggles. The thoughts of not having a dad increase this time of year, triggering his sadness as well.

This week's takeaway:

Think back on all the good Christmas memories you have. Chances are that the ones that stand out the most were years when your family didn’t have the money for the fanciest decorations, lots of events leading up to Christmas eve and mountains of presents.

If your family is anything like mine, the ones we remember are the years when we had little. I remember making garlands out of construction paper and stringing up popcorn to decorate the house.

We spent the month of December looking at lights, playing board games, baking cookies, and singing Christmas Carols. The gifts were less expensive but more meaningful and often homemade. It’s those simple Christmases that stand out in my mind. They are some of my most treasured memories, and the same holds true for the rest of my family.

Decide what’s most important to you. Decide who is most important to you. And do the things you love with the people you love. You’ll have a much better Christmas this way.

Don't miss the big giveaway!

I'm launching a new membership site for monthly self-help courses. The first class starts December 31st. You can get all the information by going to iamsteveaustin.com and clicking on the “courses” link at the top of the page.

Today, you have the chance to win a full year's membership, worth $264. Here’s what you do, go follow me on Twitter @iamsteveaustin and retweet the pinned post at the top of the page. The winner will be announced this Monday 12/10.

Good luck! And thanks again for being here!

This week's bonus:

Click here to sign up for my free 10-day e-course, "How to Keep the CrayCray Outta Your Christmas."