Tips for managing Christmas
Manage expectations – yours and others. In years to come, your friends and whānau won’t look back on Christmas 2023 and reminisce about how tidy your house was or how clean your windows were. They’ll look back on the conversations, the laughter, the backyard cricket match and who fell asleep first after lunch.
Here are some starter suggestions...
- Perhaps you could agree to do a Secret Santa or Gift Exchange game instead of buying gifts for individuals.
- Set yourself a realistic schedule and delegate responsibilities where you can.
- Prioritise tasks but appreciate that you still may not get everything done – and that’s okay!
- Set some time for yourself and stick to it. Tell the whānau it’s your day to read a book, go for a bike ride, hit the shops, sleep till noon or binge Netflix.
- Go easy on yourself and others. At Christmas, it’s okay to have pavlova for breakfast.
- It’s okay to say ‘no’. Decline the party if you really don’t feel up to it. Tell aunty that today isn’t a good day, but she can visit later in the week. Say ‘no thanks’ to another glass of wine if what you really want is something non-alcoholic.
Welcome to Waka Toa Ora
Waka Toa Ora is a Canterbury DHB-led inter-sectoral collaborative partnership in the Canterbury region. The partnership is based on the WHO Healthy Cities model, and was previously known as Healthy Christchurch.
The key theme of initiative is that all sectors and groups have a role to play in creating a healthy Canterbury, whatever their specific focus (recreation, employment, youth, environmental enhancement, transport, housing or another aspect of health or wellbeing).
This inter-sectoral initiative fosters collaboration between organisations who have signed the Waka Toa Ora Charter.
Read the Waka Toa Ora Charter - updated July 2019.
The new name Waka Toa Ora communicates that we are all in a waka together. We are rowing in the same direction and navigating the many dimensions of wellbeing (physical, social, spiritual, and mental and emotional — hau ora, wai ora, mauri ora, toi ora). We are stronger navigating the regional landscape together.
There are currently over 200 charter signatories to the Waka Toa Ora Charter, including government agencies, businesses, voluntary sector groups, networks and residents’ associations. The organisations involved reflect a diverse focus and cover many aspects of health and wellbeing.
