When Holiday Stress Wakes Up Your Old Habits: A Sunday Reset for Your Mind and Nervous System

The Shelf, the Spiral, and the Truth About Holiday Stress

If you’ve ever felt yourself unravel over something tiny - something so small other people barely notice - this one’s for you.

Because the truth is… holiday stress hits different.
Not because we’re fragile.
But because the holidays bring out every version of us we’ve ever had to be.

And this week, mine showed up loud.

The Shelf That Set Off My Whole Nervous System

On Sunday, my husband finally installed the pull-out pantry shelves I bought sixteen months ago.
He was proud. I was grateful. And then I saw it:

One shelf was off. Just a tiny bit.

But my brain didn’t see “tiny.” It saw “wrong.”

If you know this feeling, you know it well.
A wave hits - the buzzing, the tight chest, the silent internal alarm.
The kind of “not right” that hijacks your whole system before you can talk yourself down.

And because I’m a Gen X woman raised on “don’t make a fuss,”
I smiled.
Said thank you.
Pretended it was fine.

Meanwhile my thoughts were running a full panic obstacle course.

By that night, I couldn’t sleep.
By morning, I had a migraine.
By noon, everything felt loud - the pantry, the kitchen, my expectations for Thanksgiving, people coming over, the whole thing.

And I kept asking myself, “Why am I like this?”

But the better question was:

Why do the holidays bring out this specific version of me so fast?

What the Shelf Was Actually About

Holiday stress doesn’t just test your patience.
It pokes the old wounds you’ve learned to cover.

It wakes up the you who learned to be “easy.”
The you who smooths everything over.
The you who stays small so everyone else can stay comfortable.
The you who hides overwhelm because someone once told you you were “too much.”

And if you’re wired with OCD, anxiety, or high-functioning everything, the holidays turn that wiring all the way up.

Not because you’re dramatic.
Not because you “care too much.”
But because your nervous system remembers what holidays used to feel like.

It tries to protect you the only way it knows how —
by bracing, scanning, anticipating, tightening.

And sometimes the thing that triggers the spiral is a shelf.

Not because the shelf matters.
But because you’ve spent a lifetime trying to keep the peace.

What Finally Brought Me Back Down

Here’s the moment that surprised me:

It wasn’t the fixing of the shelf that helped.
It was the honesty.

“This is bothering me more than it should, but it’s still bothering me.”

My husband didn’t judge it.
He didn’t lecture me about overreacting.
He just fixed the shelf.

No shame.
No static.
No minimizing.

And that moment reminded me:

Sometimes the thing you’re most afraid to say out loud

is the thing that calms your nervous system the fastest.

Holiday stress doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It doesn’t mean you’re weak.
It means you’re human, wired with depth and sensitivity and awareness.
And you don’t have to apologize for that wiring — not this season, not ever.

☕️ Where does holiday stress hit you first - your sleep, your thoughts, or your emotions?

I’d love to hear your answer.

❤️ Want support for weeks exactly like this?

Everything inside Unapologetic You is built for moments just like this - the spirals, the stress, the people-pleasing urges, the old conditioning that sneaks up during the holidays.

If you want weekly grounding tools, emotional resets, and Christ-centered encouragement, you can ch👉 Click here to download it:
Unapologetically You Workbook + Audio – $1 Offer

Cheryl Miller
@HeyCherylMiller
Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach (CNC, CWC)
Helping women stop hiding, start healing, and live unapologetically — fueled by Christ, coffee, and confidence.