Protecting Our Boundaries: Holiday Edition

The holiday season is officially in full swing, and while it may be party time for some folks, others of us are more than happy to keep it in the house this year.

Sometimes it can be hard to find a comfortable way to say, "I have no intentions of leaving this nest of fuzzy blankets any time soon."

But hear me out: if you receive an invitation to socialize and yes you have the free time, but you don’t have the mental or emotional bandwidth, the extra physical strength, or the sincere desire to go, you're technically unavailable. Right?

I feel like there's a solid argument to be made. If not, pretend with me.

See, capacity and availability are basically first cousins so availability without the necessary capacity ends up resulting in time wasted, twinges of regret and ultimately nonsense, which was recently confirmed to be a crime punishable by exile in at least 62 states.

Therefore, hitherto and such, responding to any invitation for which we don't have the capacity with something like, “I'm not available, but thanks so much for thinking of me” should be sufficient. Another gem I plan on using is, "I won't be there this year, but I can't wait to hear all about it!"

The Defense rests. Literally.

What are some phrases you use to honor and protect your boundaries?