The holiday period can be hard for young people, there’s an accumulation of things that can come up and make it challenging for you to keep your cool and express your needs. There’s relatives you haven’t seen all year running through your personal space, blistering hot weather, wanting to go see mates and being stuck in a car while dad plays his old people music for the 4 hour drive to Sydney.

Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind during the holiday season that might assist you in keeping your cool and express what your feeling;

Check in with yourself before you have the hard conversations;

If you want to have a chat to someone and emotions are high it can be really hard to maintain control of how you feel. Before you have a chat and your emotional check in with yourself and ask yourself if you’re ready to have this conversation, if your feeling like giving someone a piece of your mind but not ready to have this conversation in a calm way or look at practical solutions to the issue your having with them you’re probably not ready to have that chat.

If you’re not ready to have that conversation THAT’S OK!!!

It might be useful to take some time to yourself and possibly write some things down like what emotion you’re feeling, what assistance or support you might be needing from someone. Once you have calmed down and have a better idea of what’s going to help you it’s important to have a chat to someone that can help you with this, either talk to a parent or a trusted adult.

Drink plenty of water;

I know it’s been said a million times, but having a class of water is more than just a drink.

Like we’ve had a chat about in the previous paragraph, it’s important to take some time to yourself and process some of those emotions before the hard conversation can be had. If you’re having a conversation with someone and things are starting to get emotionally draining sometimes we react in ways that aren’t going to help the situation. If you need some time to process what’s going on it might be useful to excuse yourself to go and get a glass of water, PURFECT you’ve now got yourself a minute to yourself where you can ask yourself “Am I ready to have this conversation?, If I react to how I’m feeling now could the situation get worse?”.  While you’ve got a moment to yourself and you’ve had your check in, if you’re not ready to have that conversation politely excuse yourself, the other person might be feeling the same way as you and you’ll both benefit from getting a bit of time to process how you’re feeling, and no one wants to say something really hurtful they regret.

Get support;

If your finding things in your home life or personal life are starting to get a bit much, THAT’S OK TOO!!!

We all need a bit of support from time to time. There’s a whole bunch of support out there for young people and adults, you really just need to know where to look.

If you need to have a chat it’s best to speak to a trusted adult, I know friends are great however it’s also important to make sure that a responsible adult has your best interests in mind and can then find ways to support you.

If you’re not comfortable having a chat to any adults face to face yet again, THAT’S OK!!!

There are services you can call and have a chat to when in need, you can do this over the phone to make it a little easier for you,

If you’re needing to have a talk and get some emotional support call

KIDS HELP LINE

1800 55 1800

LIFE LINE

13 11 14

Have an awesome holiday season,

Conflict Resolution Service