This year, I realized that I had again experienced holiday overload. It seems to happen in not only neurodiverse individuals, but also in neurotypical individuals as well. Due to all the preparation and happening of the holiday itself, then when it is all said in done, the crash of our withstanding finally falls apart and the only thing we can do is just lay down and rest.

I had not been doing well for some time before the holiday and then I realized that I needed to take care of myself a few days before, only becoming my best self on Christmas morning. I was able to get through the celebration with my family mostly well, but as soon as I got home, I realized that despite having day services the next morning with a pickup nearly twelve hours away, at that juncture, I realized that it would be best to cancel for the following day given the fact that there would be short staffing and a full moon on the horizon (if you know, you know.)

I came into my apartment and took my medicine and immediately laid down on bed falling asleep shortly after, not waking up until after midnight. Glad at this point that I cancelled my transportation, I took my bedtime medication and again retreated to sleep for near daybreak. I then phoned the day services and let them know that I would not be able to attend that day and then began to proceed with cleaning up my home which took quite a while to get done.

Because of my not feeling my best, my laundry from last week did not get done and the apartment was less than decent, thus those being priorities. Then getting the clothes laundered and put away, my mother had stopped by with a few things I left at her house, and we decided to go out for lunch and run a few errands before finishing the tasks that I needed to do.

Nonetheless, as I am writing this, I am starting to feel myself overall once again and realize the consequences of not doing what I need to do to always stay well and the importance of recharging after periods of holiday overload. I can recall many times where I would just pick up and go by doing what was needed without question, without realizing the consequences that it would bring to the overall situation of my wellbeing. It is also realizing that I must do many things now without the assistance of others and that also requires a lot of energy that was once not realized on top of the demands that are required from being out in public that I never had realized that can be so straining from the excessive factors beyond our control that are at times overbearing to the autistic sensory palate.

There is finally a reality that it is essential for me to do the things that I need to do to be well and that being out of sorts for so long has made me realize the Importance of doing what is needed and the benefits it provides, health, sleep, medication and so forth. All these things are crucial to ensuring that I maintain optimum wellness to be my best friend to myself and others along with being able to function in society and withstand the challenges that life brings along with it.

Regardless of the schedule, it is important to have necessary breaks within the day to allow for the ability to recharge from all the overload that the day brings forth by allowing the senses to recharge and not go into overload from things that we cannot control. There must be a sense of grounding when we realize that sometimes too much is too much, and we do not have to say yes to each one we commit to doing. It is OK to have boundaries and say no to things we cannot feel that we can withstand. That is what I did the other day, and it was perfectly acceptable because it was needed without me crashing. Remember, there is no health without mental health.