Yesterday, I got that feeling.  You know, the feeling you get as you get closer and closer to forking over those items you purchased for your loved ones on Christmas Day?  For lack of better terminology, lets just call it gift-giving anxiety.

That voice in your head that says,

“Did I buy too much or not nearly enough?”

“Will they think I’m cheap?”  “What if they spent more on me than I did on them?”

“Is it the wrong colour or perhaps the wrong size?”  

My own struggle is almost always the feeling of what I’m giving is never enough.

So, I did a little research just for fun and to my surprise (well, I’m not really that surprised), I have General Anxiety Disorder!  And guess what else?  Other people have it too.  But for the sake of this post, I’m just going to call it what I’ve been calling it for years, gift-giving anxiety.

Every year.  Same thing.  I work hard to get all of my shopping done before the stores get to busy to be bearable.  Making check lists to keep myself organized and wrapping all of the presents to be ahead of the game so I’ll have less to worry about as I get closer to the day.  You would think that in the midst of all of that organization, this feeling would pass.

But it doesn’t.

And, I realize I’m going to feel this way every single year and yesterday was my day.

Over the years, I’ve come up with a couple of ideas that actually work to help me get through my “gift-giving anxiety” day.  I’ll just share a few of them here with you in the event you need a little inspiration of your own.

These are mostly things I like to do to pass the time because I need a distraction to move away from that feeling:

1.  Call a friend and go out and have a relaxing coffee, latté or hot chocolate.  My go-to is Starbucks.  They always have great music playing in the background and I find that puts me in a relaxing state of mind.  Better yet, visit a Starbucks with a Chapters so you can browse the latest magazines.

2.  This is a great time of year to clean out your closet.  Get rid of some of your clothing items that you no longer wear.  Pack them up and take a drive to your favorite local shelter or consignment store. *This is what I did yesterday*

3.  Light exercise.  There are many ice-skating rinks that offer public skating.  Dust off those old skates and give your legs a work out.

4.  Get out your best recipes and do some holiday baking.  I just found a great recipe for Bacon Bark (which, incidentally would make a nice little hostess gift).

And, if you really, really have that urge to get out there and spend your cash…take $10 (and only $10) to the dollar store.  Works like a charm.

Photo:  HGTV

I would love to hear if you also suffer from gift-giving anxiety and how you cope with it.

Have a Very Merry Christmas…I’m certain everyone is going to love what you got them!