Some Holiday Stress Relief from Fred Rogers

"I hope you're proud of yourself for the times you've said 'yes,' when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else." - Fred Rogers

That quote from Fred Rogers means a lot to me, especially as we head into the holidays.

I'm a Buddy-the-Elf-type myself. I love this season and most of what comes with it. But some of what comes with it—extra busyness at work for both my husband and me, added pressure I put on myself to make the holidays so dang *magical* for my kids, the mild guilt I feel as an ethical shopper for buying those plastic, dubiously-sourced Paw Patrol cars at Target for my kids' stockings—it's a lot. 

I'm guessing you can relate to some of that, and that's where Mister Rogers helps. The DoneGood community is so extraordinarily kind, giving, and selfless. And, that conscientiousness is actually where a lot of this guilt and stress comes from.

We believe it’s helpful to be proud of the good things we are doing, rather than feel a lot of guilt for the things we’re not—whether that's how ethically we're able to shop, how much we give or volunteer, or how we interact with our families this time of year. Let’s definitely make the effort to do as much good as we can. And then celebrate the good, and keep learning and keep trying, happily—instead of beating ourselves up for the ways we don't get it right.

So during this most-wonderful, but also sometimes-very-stressful, time of year—we wanted to pause to reach out and make sure someone told you that it's okay not to be perfect, and instead to be a human.  It’s okay to ask for help. It's okay to find a counselor (I have). It's okay to slow down and take care of yourself this season. None of us can do it all on our own. That's how Mister Rogers has helped me this time of year, and I wanted to pass it along.

-Erin