Choosing Yourself Through the Holiday Season
- Crystal Coleman
- Nov 1
- 3 min read
As we step into the holiday season, I want to speak to your heart. This time of year brings so many emotions at once. There is joy, gratitude, and excitement, but there can also be heaviness. The holidays often remind us of who and what we’ve lost, and sometimes those feelings sneak up when we least expect them.
Before everything starts moving fast, I want to remind you to pause. Breathe. Choose yourself. Nurture your peace. Be present for your own life. Living healthy isn’t about doing everything perfectly or checking off a list of goals. It’s about choosing yourself again and again with love, especially in moments that feel full or fragile.
Remembering Loved Ones with Gratitude
The holidays can bring deep emotions when you’re missing people who are no longer here. I know that ache. It’s something that never fully goes away. Over time, I’ve learned that remembering loved ones doesn’t have to be something that breaks you. It can be something that fills you.
Instead of letting the memories pull me into sadness, I’ve started finding ways to celebrate them. I light a candle. I play their favorite music. I make the dishes they loved most. I smile when I think about our laughter, our lessons, and the love that still lives in me because of them.
Grief and gratitude can exist together. When we honor our loved ones through joy, we keep them close in the most beautiful way.
Protecting Your Energy
This season has a way of demanding more from us than we sometimes have to give. There’s the decorating, the shopping, the cooking, the gatherings, and the constant message that everything needs to be “perfect.” I’ve learned to release that pressure. I’m giving myself permission to slow down this year, to make rest part of my rhythm, and to find peace in simplicity.
I want you to do the same. You don’t need to overextend yourself physically, financially, or emotionally. The beauty of the season isn’t measured by the money you spend or the decorations you hang. It’s found in how present you are and how connected you feel to what truly matters.
For many of us as Black women, this year has brought collective challenges that weigh on the spirit. That’s why now more than ever, it’s important to guard your energy and give yourself grace. Focus on your health, your peace, your spiritual grounding, and your family. Strength doesn’t always look like doing it all. Sometimes it looks like resting, saying no, and allowing yourself to just be.
Embracing Singleness with Gratitude
This will be my seventh holiday season single, and I want to be honest with you. I am at peace with it. What used to feel like loneliness has become a reminder of how much love I already have in my life.
Being single during the holidays doesn’t mean being lonely. It means having the freedom to pour love into the people and the passions that bring you joy. It means focusing on what you already have—family, true friends, purpose, and growth.
If you’re spending the holidays without a partner this year, please know that your story is still whole. Love exists all around you, and it starts with how you treat yourself. You are not waiting for completeness. You are already complete.
Finding Joy and Community
If you find yourself feeling sad, restless, or isolated this season, I want to encourage you to reach out. Get out of the house. Go for a walk. Attend a local event. Volunteer somewhere that touches your heart. Sometimes healing finds us when we step outside our routine and connect with the world again.
There is something powerful about giving back during this time of year. When you serve others, you fill your own spirit in ways you might not expect. Joy has a way of circling back to you when you choose to share it.
A Truth to Hold
As we move through this season, I want you to hold this close:You are worthy of peace.You are worthy of joy.You are worthy of rest. Choosing yourself is not selfish. It’s sacred. It’s the foundation that allows you to pour into what truly matters—your health, your family, your faith, your dreams.
This year, I’m challenging both of us to redefine what healthy living means. It isn’t about perfection or performance. It’s about love. It’s about balance. It’s about gratitude for the life we’re creating one intentional choice at a time.
So take care of your heart. Rest when you need to. Celebrate the small moments. And remember that every season, even the ones that feel tender, has its own kind of magic.
With love,
Cree
Comments