Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Hey,
Speaker 1: welcome back to I Choose Me. Can you believe it?
Speaker 1: We're practically there. The leaves are all crazy beautiful all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, We'll at least they were on the
Speaker 1: East Coast where I was this past week. I mean
Speaker 1: here in southern California. Winter is you know, let's just
Speaker 1: say it's mild to say the least, but the weather
Speaker 1: is feeling a little crispy, and you have that little
Speaker 1: pep in your step. With the extra hour of sleep
Speaker 1: we've been getting, you're starting to get a lot more
Speaker 1: interested in cooking and grocery shopping. Wait, wait, wait, wait,
Speaker 1: rewind that I want you to know that the optional
Speaker 1: word in that sentence was interested. We can feel interested, yes,
Speaker 1: by the prep and the planning and the excitement meant
Speaker 1: to see the family, those of us that get to
Speaker 1: have our family with us. But it can also feel
Speaker 1: a million other ways. Maybe it feels like something you're
Speaker 1: actually not looking forward to at all. Whatever the feels are,
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving is almost here today. I want to talk about
Speaker 1: why this holiday, even with all its predictable chaos, is
Speaker 1: so important to me and worth all the good and
Speaker 1: the bad and the pure exhaustion that comes with it.
Speaker 1: We need to remember that Thanksgiving is a lot more
Speaker 1: than just turkey and football and green bean casserole and
Speaker 1: someone guaranteed to fall asleep with their mouth open next
Speaker 1: to you on the couch. There has to be more
Speaker 1: to it. There is so much more to it. But
Speaker 1: the truth is that, no matter what it means to
Speaker 1: me or to anyone else, we need to think about
Speaker 1: it differently. I think we need to think of it
Speaker 1: as a necessary reset button for the soul. We spend
Speaker 1: the entire year doing work, doing the errands and the keeping,
Speaker 1: doing all the emotional heavy lifting that we do. What
Speaker 1: if we let this one day force us to just
Speaker 1: stop and simply be a day where we dedicate time
Speaker 1: to acknowledge and reflect on the good things we have.
Speaker 1: Gratitude isn't something that just happens to you. It's a
Speaker 1: choice you make every single minute, every day, all day long.
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving gives us this giant, wonderful permission slip to make
Speaker 1: that choice without feeling weird about being a little mushy.
Speaker 1: You know, For me, Thanksgiving is about the comfort of
Speaker 1: the routine. Yes, like I know what it is I
Speaker 1: know what to expect, but it's also the people. And yeah,
Speaker 1: it's usually messy. It's a little stressful, sometimes right up
Speaker 1: until everyone is around the table. Sometimes maybe well beyond
Speaker 1: that moment, but it's real, and yeah, it reminds me
Speaker 1: of those big family gatherings we had on our farm
Speaker 1: when I was little. Now that the girls are older,
Speaker 1: our family is a little more spread out. Unfortunately, Luca
Speaker 1: is not going to be able to join us this year,
Speaker 1: but it is such a sacred, precious time when all
Speaker 1: my girls are home. And even though she's not going
Speaker 1: to be here physically this year, we will FaceTime with
Speaker 1: her a million times so it will be somewhat bearable.
Speaker 1: It's a day on the calendar, you guys, a physical, loud,
Speaker 1: wonderful reminder of the joy of connection and the grounding
Speaker 1: of gratitude. It's about feeling full in every single sense
Speaker 1: of the word. You know. Okay, so let's just get
Speaker 1: into the good stuff. Let's do what we do here.
Speaker 1: We're all about choices here on I choose me, So
Speaker 1: let's talk about the choices we have around this holiday.
Speaker 1: Because Thanksgiving can feel mandatory, not optional. Sometimes the first
Speaker 1: choice is simple, do I even go. We feel this
Speaker 1: intense obligation to attend the gatherings, especially when your family
Speaker 1: is involved. But I'm telling you, guys something, If the
Speaker 1: thought of a particular situation fills you with more dread
Speaker 1: than potential joy, you have the powerful choice to say no, no,
Speaker 1: thank you, seriously, even if it means saying you don't
Speaker 1: want to host this year. Choosing yourself sometime times means
Speaker 1: protecting your piece over the pleasing of someone else. And
Speaker 1: that is a huge badass move, and it is okay
Speaker 1: to make it. It is okay to say no. The
Speaker 1: second choice is all about the labor of it, all
Speaker 1: the food, Oh my gosh. The pressure we put on
Speaker 1: ourselves to be some kind of Thanksgiving queen is insane.
Speaker 1: If it is or has become too much, you have
Speaker 1: the choice to scale back. I know I try to
Speaker 1: do it every year, and somehow it's still as big
Speaker 1: as last time. But go ahead, do what I wish
Speaker 1: I would do. Do what I'm thinking about doing this Yere,
Speaker 1: order the pie, buy the pre made mashed potatoes, delegate
Speaker 1: the workload, ask for help. Don't let the logistics destroy
Speaker 1: your joy before the main course even hits the table.
Speaker 1: And if you're a guest, choose to bring something substantial
Speaker 1: so that your host isn't completely burnt out by the
Speaker 1: time you arrive. That is a total act of collective
Speaker 1: self care. Very nice of you. And the third, maybe
Speaker 1: the trickiest choice, is the conversations. Very often every family
Speaker 1: has that one relative, right, the one who brings up
Speaker 1: the awkward question about money or politics, or your love life,
Speaker 1: or your job or the way you look. Even you
Speaker 1: have the choice, you have the power to change the subject.
Speaker 1: You can get up, you can walk away, or you
Speaker 1: can simply say, you know what, I'm gonna choose peace today.
Speaker 1: So why don't we talk about how amazing this stuffing is.
Speaker 1: You do not have to defend and your life choices
Speaker 1: over a bowl of lumpy gravy. Choose the topics that
Speaker 1: nourish your soul, not the ones that drain it. Okay,
Speaker 1: So here are three quick practical tips on how to
Speaker 1: build your own peaceful holiday plan so you can truly
Speaker 1: choose yourself with Thanksgiving. My first idea for a peaceful
Speaker 1: holiday is to create a peace plan. It sounds like
Speaker 1: it would be more time involved to make a plan,
Speaker 1: but I promise you will save time and heartache if
Speaker 1: you spend just a little time pre planning in advance.
Speaker 1: So before you walk into the gathering, pre plan a short,
Speaker 1: intentional escape. It could be five minutes sitting in your
Speaker 1: car listening to your favorite song. It could be ten
Speaker 1: minutes watering the host's plants or playing with their dog outside.
Speaker 1: Or another one is to yeah, just step out onto
Speaker 1: the porch and breathe in the cold air. Pre Plan
Speaker 1: your peace and don't feel guilty about taking it. It
Speaker 1: recharges you. It recharges your battery, so you can actually
Speaker 1: be present and not resentful or uncomfortable. You get to
Speaker 1: be in the moment and give your children the option
Speaker 1: to do the same. Honestly, because family gatherings can be
Speaker 1: just as overwhelming for our kids as they are for us.
Speaker 1: So if your children know that they have an escape,
Speaker 1: they can go upstairs, maybe with a book or a
Speaker 1: puzzle that you pack for them. They can run outside
Speaker 1: for ten minutes. Whatever plan you make with your kids,
Speaker 1: you'd be amazed what having that little option could mean
Speaker 1: for your kids. Sanity this Thanksgiving. My second tip in
Speaker 1: our peaceful holiday plan might sound a little silly, but
Speaker 1: choose what you want to wear wisely, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. As far as I'm concerned, this holiday season
Speaker 1: needs to be about comfort. Forget the restrictive, itchy clothes
Speaker 1: that make you miserable but make other people think a
Speaker 1: certain way about you. Forget about that. Choose an outfit
Speaker 1: that allows you to fully enjoy the day, one that
Speaker 1: lets you move and breathe and yes eat that third
Speaker 1: helping of stuffing. Seriously, when you're comfortable, you are relaxed,
Speaker 1: and when you are relaxed, you are more patient with
Speaker 1: everyone else. So dress for yourself. This is the whole
Speaker 1: reason that I've created my brand for Comfort. You can
Speaker 1: check out of my fun videos on Instagram. It's all
Speaker 1: about feeling good and looking good and being able to
Speaker 1: button up that button after the big meal. So check
Speaker 1: that out. But my final tip is to practice gratitude
Speaker 1: grounding during a moment of chaos, when the dog poops
Speaker 1: under the table, or the baby's crying, when the cast
Speaker 1: rules burning, just stop after you take the castle roll out.
Speaker 1: Just take a minute, close your eyes for three seconds even,
Speaker 1: and name three things you are grateful for in that moment.
Speaker 1: The smell of the sage, the sound of the laughter
Speaker 1: in the other room, the roof over your head. This
Speaker 1: small moment of grounding immediately reframes your mind from stress
Speaker 1: to appreciation. And you might need a little more time,
Speaker 1: a little more than three seconds, So go ahead, take
Speaker 1: that walk around the block a breathing exercise. Holidays make
Speaker 1: everyone stressed out. You're not alone, so don't feel bad
Speaker 1: about it either way, because you need something to break
Speaker 1: the cycle, and it will allow you to concentrate on thankfulness,
Speaker 1: which is what this day is all about. Thanksgiving is
Speaker 1: a beautiful, messy gift. Don't wait for permission to be
Speaker 1: grateful or to rest. Don't wait for someone else to
Speaker 1: grant you a peaceful day. Choose your peace, choose your joy,
Speaker 1: choose your gratitude. It's always okay to choose yourself, even
Speaker 1: on a holiday. So happy Thanksgiving from everyone here at
Speaker 1: I choose me. We will see you next week.