It’s almost the end of the year. This is usually a time that many of us cherish. We look forward to celebrating the holidays with annual traditions, spending time with family and taking a chance to rest and reflect. All of these things allow us the ability to exhale before we welcome in a new year. 2020 has brought us additional reasons to look forward to flipping the calendar and hoping for healthier and happier times shared by all.

One of my family’s tradition is our annual trip to Jones Family Farm in Connecticut to pick out our freshly cut Christmas tree. It’s truly a wonderful sight to see when you drive up the hill and see the farm and fields of trees. We always select a tree that has already been cut down and there are so many wonderful choices. Walking into the barn to choose our tree, the aroma of the smell of pine trees is a nice overwhelming scent - an immediate scent, that starts to relax us and begins to dissolve the stresses of the year.

Once we find the perfect tree, we head down the hill to get cider and cookies. Jones Family Farm also has a specialty shop that sells their own homemade wines from grapes they grow. We pass a very old John Deere tractor on display and other novel items that decorate the farm for the Holidays, also reminding us of the magic of the season.

Once the tree is tied on our jeep rack, we head home to get it ready. We left a lot of stress from the year at Jones Family Farms and we are relaxing a little more. Once home, we put the tree up and let it rest and fall out for a day. More stress falls away from a challenging year.

Next, it is time for holiday music, sparkling cider and decorating the tree. More stress falls away. Now, we are fully in the holiday mood and ready to celebrate the Holidays!

While this has been a challenging year we are grateful that we are still able to do some of our annual traditions such as spend time with our small family and exhale the sweet scent of pine trees allowing us to relieve the stress of the year.

As you celebrate your holidays this season, my hope for you is that you can continue to enjoy some of your own annual traditions including spending time with your family; and, that the joy of doing these things will help some of your stress fall away from this challenging year.

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays to a healthy and happier 2021!

Sonya Ruff Jarvis, is the Managing Member of Jarvis Consultants and the Founder of the eRetailer Summit and JC Event Group. An expert in her field, Sonya has been published in numerous retail industry b-to-b publications. Sonya shares her experiences in her book series Mindful Minutes: A Marketer’s Journey Through Business. In addition, Sonya collaborated in publishing an anthology, Mentoring Moments: 14 Remarkable Women Share Their Breakthroughs to Success. Purchase Sonya’s books here.

Sonya has a M.B.A. in Marketing. She is married and has a daughter and they live in Trumbull, Connecticut.

Follow Sonya on twitter at @jarvisconsult or @eretailersummit