I Choose...My Mental Health During The Holidays

You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth. Hi, everyone, welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about the choices we make and where they lead us. Okay, So, with the end of the year rapidly approaching, I think we need to check in on our mental health.

This time of the.

Year is always so chaotic. There's the traveling. If you're traveling with all the delays and the noise and the people of it all, and the kids are out of.

School, I don't know about you.

Mine just eat all day long, like I cannot seem to spend enough money at the grocery store to feed this family. Maybe do you have family in town? Because my mom is coming the memester she is going to be here. She will be wanting to chat.

That I know.

And you know end of your work deadlines. They're shopping. There's the deadline of the shopping. If you don't get all the shopping done and the wrapping done by the day, then you suck like you failed Christmas somehow. It's a lot of pressure and how do you know what to get people? That takes some serious thinking. Then if you are a real overachiever, like show Off, you decide to

A hot second to check in and assess.

How are we doing mentally today.

I've got two great.

Guests joining me for this conversation. First up, I'm going to bring in my bestie and our resident therapist here on the pod help me. Welcome back Adele to the podcast.

Hi, Jenny, you're so pretty.

You're so pretty.

Okay, first off, how are you doing right now? Thanksgiving was a lot.

It's the end of the year.

Are things in your life starting to get crazy or what?

Well? Yes and no.

Because I live in kind of a resort town, everybody wants to come visit us, so we have we literally tell people start booking our house if you want to come visit, because it books up.

Yeah, I couldn't get a booking. The in was all full.

But yeah, we'll find you something. But yeah, I think you missed all the holiday spots. Oh no, we're talking about a good holiday spot still for you. Yeah, it's been a lot of people coming to visit. Both of our families right around Thanksgiving. All four of our parents are still alive, so lots of elderly stuff coming up and feelings coming up. Oh yeah, familiar.

Yeah, and we are. It's funny.

I don't consider other of us overachievers, but definitely we do like to host. We feel like, yeah, you know, Jen's a really good cook, and I like to do the table and the house and the all the things. And I'm exhausted already.

Okay, I was saying earlier, at the end of the year gets so chaotic for a bunch of reasons. Yeah, but I want to impress you for a second with some stats.

Ooh okay.

In twenty fourteen, NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, found that sixty four percent of people with mental illness say the holidays make their conditions worse.

Yeah.

And when I say mental illness, am I talking about like depression anxiety?

Do those call of it?

Yeah? Yeah, they do.

Okay, right, And that's I'm glad you've said that, because a lot of people think mental illness has to be I don't want to say that depression and anxiety aren't serious, but they're a little bit more garden variety and a lot more people have both of those or one of those, but it's not severe mental illness. It can be depression, it can be anxiety, it can be addiction.

In twenty twenty one, a survey showed that three and five Americans feel their mental health is negatively impacted by the holidays. Now, I know this is twenty fourteen and twenty twenty one. I'm sure these numbers are bigger now because life just seems to get more and more chaotic as it goes on.

Yeah, and I would guess I think you're right.

I mean, I think it probably those numbers are even higher now, you know, for two main reasons, post pandemic and us being more isolated than we were before the pandemic, and also with the divisiveness still with post election and politics and family members who don't align politically, so that stressor is an added stressor now more than usual.

Right, And just like how much eggs cost, Like everything is so expensive now that is stressful for so many people.

Yeah, I mean, and inflation has gone up as it does every year, but yeah, I mean just kitchen table stuff is stressful. And then the holidays, like what you were describing, I was listening to talk about how you do the holidays, and I thought, even you, who's done so much personal work, who has grown so much, when you were in your twenties, you were doing it the same way you're doing it in your fifties.

You're like, when I heard you say what to get everyone, I thought, oh, Jen, oh no.

No, it's not.

You know, I am an overachiever when it comes to the holidays.

I admit that, you guys, And yeah, it's a lot.

I have all three of my girls home, and every time that I'm the happiest I'm I've ever been when they're all home. But my house literally just looks like a bomb went off inside of it. And you know, I just have to kind of like change gears and be okay with that for that period of time because normally I'm a little more neat and tidy orderly.

But the thing is, that's what the holidays are supposed to look like.

We have to kind of like we have to move our mindset into the reality and not the fantasy, you know, like the Martha Stewart fantasy you can.

Do that you are a fantasy is so good, I know, I know, but it's magazine that's for a photo shoot, right.

Yeah, And when I think of you, I think of you as making beautiful things besides beautiful children. You make beautiful food, you make a beautiful home, You make beautiful crafty things, even in your messy house, and that's what's so beautiful about it. So we have to move into what the reality is, which is and I'm the same.

So we have to switch gears.

I'm here to make them happy, comfortable, have a great experience. And that's part of being a great host is the messiness of it all and actually feeling great about the gift of giving your beautiful home to people and letting them relax in it.

Right, we don't want people to be uptight in our homes.

No, I want people to feel comfortable. So yeah, why do.

You think it's important for us to still carve out time for our mental health? Like, why do you think it's almost more important for us to carve out some time for ourselves and for our mental health during the holidays.

Well, I think you said it with those statistics right there.

Are you know, it's an added pressure because we're not just in our regular routine right either we're traveling or we're receiving and hosting, and the stress levels are higher because of our expectations. And I was thinking about that today and the holidays today, and I thought, as we've talked about a lot over the years, expectations breed a lot of let down and resentment and feeling like failures. And I think we might be doing it a little bit wrong that when we have traditions, right we have,

Up for sure, so your anxiety.

Just the traditions themselves are setting us up for disappointment and stress.

Yeah.

Yeah, And and suddenly today I went, oh my god, I think we're kind of doing it wrong. First of all, traditions are wonderful and we want to have them right, like whatever you know, food traditions, or how we come together and maybe do Christmas Morning or we do Honik or whatever. But if we if we say, oh, but we do this every year, we do it this way every year, and if it goes slightly askew.

Or a skance, I don't know what the right word is. I think because of.

Scance, then we suddenly feel like we did it wrong, and so we're setting ourselves up. And so I think our mental health if we can pre plan a little bit, like however, it goes as long as connections they're having a moment with this person or that person, seeing my daughters experience this thing, this moment that they always have at Christmas, then those are small winds, not the.

Big huge It goes exactly this way.

These traditions have to go exactly this way, but just the small connections.

Oh, I like this.

I was going to ask you in a minute, like what are some helpful little things that our listeners can do to help them prioritize their mental health during the time, even if they try to use the excuse that there isn't enough time. There's always enough time, but these are that's that's a great, simple little thing. So you're saying to break it down, break out your the what you want as far as small wins, like specific things that you want to see happen.

Yeah, Like if you look over and you see Fiona and Luca having a moment and you're moved, You're like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad Luca's home and like they're connecting right now, that is that could be I just got chill saying it because they feel like that could be the greatest moment of your Christmas holiday with your family.

Just small little wins.

I know, Okay, I like this.

What's another example of another small win?

Well that so that backs up to your question around mental health, which is that is how we address our mental health is to pre plan and think ahead about small winds. Think about let's if a tradition doesn't go exactly as we need it to go, maybe it's supposed to shift a little bit.

They change over time.

Right, people get sick sometimes and can't come and be with us, or we can't go somewhere. So another small wind could be you finally, mastered that one dish She've been trying every year, you know, and it came out prettier than you thought it was going too. Or your mom felt good this time, she didn't. She didn't feel under the weather or weak, or you know, or that your mom is there. Your mom coming to your house for the holidays is an entire win, it is.

That's true, right, Yeah, even though she talks my ear off. No, I love it. I love it.

Okay, those are good. I love that because I think it's so important. I want to ask you this question, though, I think there continues to be a misconception sometimes that making time for ourselves is selfish. Can we just unpack that? Why do people think that?

Do you think?

Yeah?

I hear that a lot, and I heard it a lot in session with clients, Like there was always we always had ended up having a talk about the difference between selfish versus self care.

And what does that look like?

And you know, because if I think of myself and I take care of myself and I take time for myself, isn't that selfish? And I would say, the things you want to watch for and the differences between selfish and self care are that selfish is self serving, right, You're serving yourself. You're thinking of yourself first and at the exclusion of other people, right, at the exclusion of loved ones.

So if there's.

So, wait, if so, if I'm taking a bath, if I choose to go take a bath to take care of myself while everybody else is like, you know, wondering what's for dinner?

Is that selfish? Am I being selfish?

No?

I don't think so, because you're taking care of yourself and you're not hurting anyone, right, and you're not you're not taking a bath for five hours and nobody gets fed.

Well, I'm just kidding.

So a version of like selfish bath would be, you know, thinking about I don't know when a bath would ever be selfish.

I don't know where I'm going to go.

With that, but I think if let's say everyone has decided the night before, okay, we're all going to have breakfast together tomorrow morning at nine, if you know I need some quiet time by myself before that, then you're taking care of yourself and you're taking a bath, You're taking a walk, you're taking the dogs for a walk, you're doing you're meditating, you're spending time with Dave privately

Oh, you know, it's so weird when you just said about that. You just said, maybe you get anxiety and you have to excuse yourself. I got anxiety, Like maybe it's just the word anxiety now that gives me anxiety.

Well, what happened in that moment when I said, what were you thinking about?

Nothing?

I was listening to you, and I was like, in the word anxiety gave me anxiety? Like, uh, my heart started skipping beats.

Interesting?

Interest interesting?

Okay, So as long as you are not not thinking of the whole of the other people in your life.

Well, yeah, I mean you can.

It's kind of tricky because you get to take care of yourself at any given moment. You get to set a boundary, you get to remove yourself if you feel unsafe, right or you feel like I am my mental state is in need of quiet and space.

Just across the board.

But if you are, if you've disappeared for eight hours and it's just because you don't want to be with everybody and they're kind of counting on you to do things at a minimum, if you don't communicate, I.

Would say that's selfish.

But if you say, hey, guys, I'm having a hard day, and can you take care of yourselves because they all look to you to take care of them, that's self care, right. So it's almost like self care plus communication gives additional permission for self care. But selfish would be just like peace out and not talking to anybody, right, and you know, or taking up kind of psychic space.

Right. Let's say the whole.

Family's together and you are having another Let's say you're feeling blue. Let's say you're grieving, right because you've lost somebody and the holidays are really hard for you. You may say communicate to everybody. I'm going to take a little time for myself. I'm going to go reflect on my dad and take a little walk and just say a little prayer or whatever.

That is self care.

If you're sitting in the group and sort of taking up a lot of psychic space, I would maybe say that's a little selfish.

Right, because it can bring the vibe down. Yeah, and you don't want to do that to everybody.

Yeah, and you want to be considerate of others. But also again, I want to make sure everybody understands that if you need something, you need space, you need time, you need to care for yourself, take it. If no one is giving you space, take space.

Right. It's not other people's job to give you space. You need to take it.

But communication is a really essential element to self care.

I like that.

That's something we haven't really talked about, that, that importance of communicating.

You know, I suck at that.

I do.

Here's what happens with me.

I am better, But it's like a constant thing, be thinking something in my mind. I'm communicating in here.

Uh huh with you yourself and you.

Yeah, my mouth doesn't say anything, So nobody outside of here, here's my communication.

But I'm fully in communication with somebody.

You have your own little private neighborhood in your head, but it's not a great neighborhood.

Ah damn my neighbors.

Oh man, Okay, So I'm gonna I'm gonna work. I'm always working on something. I'm gonna work on communicating my needs a little more clearly.

Or just what's going on with you. Be transparent, you guys.

It might seem like you might say to Dave, I know that I'm kind of a little quiet right now.

Let me tell you more.

Like on edge.

Yeah, yeah, that's mine. That's my thing for sure in my family.

And so like if everybody's like needing, wanting, causing disrupt yeah, you can get a little edgy.

I can get a little edgy. And my wife can feel it. And so I am still practicing and still learning to be able to say to her, I'm a little on edge. You might be feeling it. So I'm sorry. If I'm on edge, like my two elderly parents, it's kind of like stressing me out. And you know, can we take a walk or can I go lie down for five minutes?

Can you like manage the scene? And I'll be back.

You know, what I love here is that you still have things that challenges.

Of course I do.

Are you normal, Oh you are okay. Yes, you.

Touch on something really briefly, but you were talking about some really good points, some interesting stuff, and we're going to talk about this a little bit more with my next guest from amend Treatment, so stay tuned for that. But I want to circle back on something you were talking about briefly that during the holidays, there's the natural feeling that can come up of grief memories of the people that we've lost. Yes, we're no longer able to

Yeah, And grief is tricky because you cannot prescribe it.

You just can't. You can't plan it.

You never know, right, it's not linear, right, it's kind of all over the place. And like we were talking about traditions earlier, imagine that traditions year after year are going to bring up memories. And those memories if that person is no longer here, can cause a lot of sadness, a lot of missing, a lot of loss, and a lot of grief.

And you know, I.

Would I would say twofold, I would say two things. Let it be right, I mean, simply let it be and honor it and use the.

Tools we've been talking about to hold your heart, you know.

And if that means taking a walk, if that means crying, if that means coming up with a.

Little tradition, I like. I like the idea.

The second part of this that I was going to say is coming up with a new tradition about the person you've lost, the person that's died, So so keeping them alive in a in a new tradition way, right, It could be an ornament on a tree, it could be bringing them up like we kind of do. My grandmother, so my mom's mom was a huge Christmas person and made me a huge Christmas person and I miss her so much every Christmas. I miss her all the time, but at Christmas, I am. I'm talking about her every meal.

I like that too. Yeah, I need to do that. I need to do that because I sometimes feel like if I just keep missing them in the quiet parts of my mind, it'll go away quicker.

Instead of like.

Letting it be like you said, and creating a new tradition which includes them in the holiday.

Yeah, like your dad, did he have a favorite Christmas tradition? Did he have a favorite drink or food at Christmas time? Or did he like to say a toast or a prayer?

Yeah?

I can just remember him sitting there and just my dad wasn't a talker, you know, kind of like him he would just sit there quietly and so happy just watching the girls, you know, unwrap their presents and play with them.

Those are the small winds, right. I can see him sitting back at meals right. And the way he enjoyed being a host was taking it in. Take a moment and take take in this holiday like your dad would.

That's so good. I don't want to do that.

What about if you're a single parent, Because raising the three girls, there were a lot of times when I was on my own, Peter was on location or you know, working whatever, and there were times when I felt like a single parent. I mean I never really truly was at that point.

But it's hard.

It's hard, and I set myself up for disaster, like, you know, buying too many things and then had to be the same amount for each girl and then having to wrap them.

Did you okay, do you guys do this?

Do you wrap your presents and put them under the tree for Christmas morning? Like you keep them away and then you put them out on Christmas night?

No? I start putting them out day after Thanksgiving up. Yeah, that's I mean. In my family, the tradition was everything was wrapped and we each got one big present that Santa left that was unwrapped, so you know, you'd wake up in the morning and they'd be like, whatever unwrapped, the exciting, whatever the thing you really wanted was.

And it's that's a problem.

I've set myself up for failure because i just did it the wrong way. With the girls, Santa brings them a pile of presents, and you know, it's a lot, it's a lot. Santa's very stressed.

Well, let me say something about something my mom did that I really appreciated. Several years ago. She talked to us and said, we're going to change the traditions. I want to set you up for your expectations because we always did like a big present, you know, and she you know, as we got older, I think she realized, like, let we need to think of others right and be more modest in our spending and things like that. And she so she told us she had a talk with

We're doing small things that I know you would like. And I have to tell you, like.

Maybe when I was like twenty two, twenty three, I was like aw and then and we've been doing it now ever since, and I'm so grateful and I love it. But I'm also grateful that she told us this is how we're going to do it now. Okay, great guys communication.

I did this, Okay, I maybe last year or the year before, I did this very thing that you're describing, and it didn't work. And I'll tell you why I didn't work. It didn't work because I didn't stick with it.

That would have been my guest that you told them and then you didn't stick with it, and then you over did because I remember, like whenever I'm with you and you're buying like a birthday present for someone or a holiday present for someone.

You're like, is this a nut?

You've already got things for someone like a friend, and then you're like, I feel like I need one more thing. So you you if you set a boundary, if you communicate to your kids. And you set a boundary and then you don't stick with it, You're sending a message to them that my boundaries don't mean anything.

Yeah.

Yeah, they kind of already know that, but uh yeah wow.

Okay, Okay, I'm gonna try harder. Look look at me, I'm learning so much.

Change the traditions, but be transparent about them so that expectations are lower or different.

So any kind of parents, single parent, co parents, any kind of parent can change the tradition if it needs to be changed.

Yes, And I think single parents should be a little easier on themselves. I mean, I am not a parent, and I'm not a single parent, but I would say that I'm a big fan of chosen families. Right, So create what you need. Right, If you're a single parent and you're struggling and you need help, ask for help and pull those aunties in, pull those you know other mamas in and create a new chosen family where you have help and new traditions.

Okay, well stay by the phone because it might be pulling in. Okay, one more question. What are your thoughts on New Year's resolutions? Do you think that goal setting is a good thing for your mental health or that kind of goal setting, like a New Year's resolution, where you're like, I'm going to get healthy this year.

This is going to be my ear.

Do you think that is putting too much pressure or like unrealistic expectations on ourselves by doing a like a New Years I love this question.

First of all, you probably know this about me by now, but I never think of things in terms of good and bad, right and wrong.

Right.

Anytime you do that, that's called black and white thinking. Right, So, anytime you do that, really, is this good or is this bad? I'm going to stop you and say, maybe it's both, and maybe it's neither. Right, it's let's just sort of analyze it. We don't have to decide if it's good or bad for me. I've never done New

Yeah, you know.

I know I'm more I'm more of a tough love kind of.

I have a tough.

Lover and I'm a gentle kinder, gentler kinder.

Yeah, ever, you're gonna get mad at me.

I know you're better than me, but it's not.

Better, worse, good, bad, Yeah yeah, yeah, right, yeah. I think that when I do set, I mean I've done that. I don't even know how many times. This is going to be the year that I stop eating salt and get really fit and take great care of myself. And then, you know, week two rolls around in January and maybe I don't make the right food choice for a minute and I feel like a failure and I get down on myself, and that just I feel that that just you know, ruins the whole notion of goal setting.

Yeah, I mean hard and fast goals don't make a lot of sense to me. You know, if anything, when I hear you say that, would I would want to change that to this is the year I know I'm good enough and accept the amount I exercise and the amount of salt I eat and the amount of health I have.

Like that would be a lovely resolution for you.

Ooh, I like that.

This year I'm going to be good enough.

That's a good resolution. What's another one like that?

This year I am going to accept what is?

Okay, those are good ones.

Yeah, this year I am going to be a better communicator.

I love that.

But what happens when I'm not?

Yeah?

Well, see, so when you say better, I think you could say this year, I am going to notice when I communicate well and be happy with myself in those moments, because you do communicate well sometimes.

Yeah. So, so it's not about being a better one.

It's about I am a good communicator at times, and when I am, I'm going to.

Like give myself a high five.

Okay, these are so do I'm doing this. This is going to be the best year ever. Twenty twenty five, lookout, Day Alive, Thank you Adele for joining me. You always bring the best insights because I'm so smart and funny and pretty.

Ah, thank you for having me. I love doing this with you. Your show is so great and so fun. And thank you again for having me, and happy holidays.

I want to continue this conversation about prioritizing our mental health and talk about an incredible place that I recently learned about. It's a place that you can go if you're needing something more than traditional weekly therapy. So I want to bring in Shier Rabibo, a clinical director at Amen Treatment in Malibu, to talk more about the importance of treatment for mental health. I've been to the facilities, so I know firsthand how incredible this place is. Shira, thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

When people hear mental health treatment, I don't think they necessarily understand what a facility can offer them. Can you kind of explain what typical things people might be struggling with that could really benefit from going to a place like a mend Yeah.

So I think when people hear residential treatment or inpatient treatment, there is this larger view of it, right, like they might think it has to be you know, you're in critical condition it's so severe, I can't get out of bed. And so amend is really more so for the everyday person, right Like, while we can certainly handle major depressive disorder or PTSD or generalized anxiety disorder, it is for the everyday person that can't get out of bed right or

Your facilities in Malibu offer a minimum thirty days stay. What benefits and progress are people able to see when they do a stay like this versus say something like a weekly at home once a week kind of therapy thing.

Yeah, so at home, right like, you're seeing your therapist maybe once twice a week, you know, for fifty minutes. And so the thirty days stay in a treatment center offers the whole clinical team to observe and assess and work together to really better understand what's going on for you. It has expedited results, right because you're working every day on yourself and you're prioritizing yourself. It creates this routine.

Like I said, I've been to the facilities in Malibu and you just nailed it.

It's so serene. I wanted to move in. I'm not kidding.

Oh, it just looks so relaxing in like such a beautiful place to have that space too, and that time to really dive deep into myself, like I really wanted it. I'm needing it, I think.

In my life too.

Yeah, walk our listeners through what a typical day might be like at the facility. Are they working one on one mostly with a therapist?

Are they in nature? Are they in group settings?

Like?

What is it?

Yeah?

So every day is a little different, but a general day typically, you know, you wake up and there's breakfast out for you. If you've had nightmares or struggle to get out of bed, there's staff to support you with that too, So you would start with breakfast and then meeting, you know, with your therapist if you need to, meeting with a clinical assistant who can support you moving through

I was going to ask you about that because I know that unlike other treatment programs and then integrate somatic experience. Yeah, can you explain to our listeners what that is?

Absolutely so, Sematic experiencing is a therapeutic approach. It was created by Peter Levine in nineteen seventy and he really made an effort to show that therapy is not just for your psychological stressors, right, because trauma integrates into your body and so oftentimes physical symptoms come from that.

Right.

We have a lot of clients with stomach pain or headaches, and maybe that's actually from the cognitive stressors or the trauma that you've been through, and so sematic experiencing helps you take that and learn how to work with the somatic feelings like the aches and pains, and better explain that to your brain, so that you're not just talking about those somatic symptoms, right, you're learning how to process those just as much as you're learning how to process

Wow, that sounds super beneficial. I think people are talking about their mental health more openly these days, which is incredible, but I know there are still a lot of people out there who are silently struggling. What are some signs that someone might be struggling with their mental health that we shouldn't be ignoring.

Yeah, when someone's world starts to get smaller, that's always a huge indicator for me. So whether they're isolating in their room, or maybe they're lashing out at their loved ones and they're kind of pushing everyone away from them, or maybe they're anxious to leave their house or anxious to go to the grocery store, That to me is a huge indicator of Okay, something's not quite right right,

Choosing to prioritize your mental health is probably the ultimate I'd choose me decision. You can make How can we explain to our friends who might not be part prioritizing their mental health that it's so important, it's such an important thing to do, and it is not selfish.

It's one of my favorite questions I think when I think about therapy and mental health, I think about the reasons why we engage in it, right, And the term selfish pops up so often. Yet our world is about the people we love and building relationships. And if I'm not filling my cup, how am I supposed to support

That's such a good way to ask yourself that question, what do I need in order to of my best for other people? I like that if someone who's listening has a loved one or a friend that they think needs more one on help, like amend offers, do you have any advice on how they can approach that subject with someone or bring that up.

Yeah, I don't be afraid to ask the hard questions, right, And I think sitting down with them and asking if they've noticed a change. Chances are that they know they're not feeling good and they don't know what to do about it. Right, So sharing with them what you've observed and asking them if they know how to get out of this rut. And then I believe coming in with support or different treatment centers or therapists to say, like, these people do know how to help you, right, Like,

Right? What is one preconceived notion about treatment that you want people to stop using or overgeneralizing that.

I think we started with this, right, that you have to have a serious or severe mental illness in order to seek support. Right, we can use this as a tool for us to just grow as people, right, Like, we don't just show up one day and we know everything. And so you know, if you're able to take thirty days to feel better to work on yourself, like that's a reason to come to treatment, right, to really just dig into why you're here and what you want to do with your time.

I don't get it to be able to do that.

If you can carve out those thirty days and just dive so deep into yourself and get to know yourself in a way like that, it has profound benefits in just the other I don't know how many other days, the other eleven months, let's say that of the year. Yes, that was so important mm hm Okay, lastly, before I let you go, Shira, what was your last I choose me moment?

Hm?

Yesterday I had a lot of work to do, and instead I decided to take my dog for a hike. And I needed that time to really recoup and rejuvenate. And I could have pushed through, but that just wasn't. It wasn't what would have been best in that moment.

So I think that's I'm sure your dog was happy about that.

Yeah, yeah, he didn't mind it.

I love that.

Thank you so much for shining a light on this and telling us about this incredible facility. And I think this is going to be good for a lot of people.

Absolutely, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

Thanks, You're good to see you again too. I want to thank both Adele end Shira for giving us some great information today and insight into why it's so important to prioritize our mental health, not just around the holidays, but every day as we continue to choose ourselves each week, I want you this week to take some time to do your own sort of mental health checklist. When was the last time you sat down and you really thought