Holiday Stress (Resolved)

Courtesy of  Dr. Lori Baker-Schena

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” – Frederick Keonig

Society sells the “holiday season” as one filled with never-ending family, food and fun. But for most of us, the “holiday season” is synonymous with stress. We are assaulted with messages that we must buy the perfect gift or hold the perfect party or cook the perfect dinner. And this bombardment seems to come earlier every year.

No WONDER we feel overwhelmed. Before you can finish saying “Happy Labor Day,” fall descends with a thud – with Halloween and Thanksgiving basically bypassed to make way for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Holiday season.

It’s the perfect storm of stress. Expectations are high that we should have a HAPPY Hanukkah or a MERRY Christmas, and thus we start adding projects and responsibilities such as baking cookies, decorating the house/office, shopping for gifts (and maybe going into debt), sending holiday cards or planning parties to an already busy work/home life. No wonder it feels like our head is about to explode.

And the price we pay for this stress is the risk of diluting the joy that comes from celebrating the true meaning of the season, and derailing our happiness and contentment because our expectations are too high. The commercialism that accompanies this time of year threatens to suck us into an emotional black hole – where no amount of Black Friday “sales” or store “specials” can save us.
The stress of the season is literally robbing us of the joy that it promises to bring. The solution?  Instead of letting the stress control our lives for the next six weeks, we need to control the stress. And here are five helpful tips:

1.     Get organized – Holiday responsibilities (decorating, cooking, gift giving) are an ADDITION to the responsibilities in our lives, not a replacement. We must work our jobs and raise our families while preparing for the season. So get organized. Sit down this week and create a calendar where you set aside time to get everything done – from gift-buying to card addressing to cooking to wrapping to decorating. Put it ALL down on a calendar.

2.     Don’t put too much on your plate – Be realistic about how much you want to accomplish and don’t try to do too much. You won’t be any fun or any help to anyone if you are too tired and even sick to enjoy the season.

3.     Let go of the guilt – If you can’t make a homemade pie, or don’t have the money to buy everyone gifts, or run out of time to send holiday cards – DON’T FEEL GUILTY. The goal here is to enjoy the season, not run some kind of race. If you buy a store-made pie, or send out an email greeting this year, it certainly isn’t the end of the world.

4.     Continue your healthy habits – Don’t let the stress of the season interfere with your exercise routine or seduce you into eating or drinking more than you really need. Take care of YOURSELF this holiday season.

5.     Be present in the moment – Above all, remember what the season is all about – peace on earth, goodwill to men (and women) and miracles. This is the time to make memories with the people we love, to bask in the knowledge that we are alive, to be grateful for everything we have, to acknowledge and reach out to those who are less fortunate, and to remember the “reason for the season.”

And to CELEBRATE that we made it through another year.

Don’t let stress dilute your joy or derail your peace.

Dr. Lori Baker-Schena is the founder and chief executive officer of Baker Schena Communications, a firm dedicated to “Unleashing Your Potential Through the Power of Words.” We offer motivational speaking, leadership consulting and medical writing services. Find us at www.loribakerschena.com

Are You Ready for Cold Weather?

Fall is the time to prepare for winter—cold and wet conditions not only make you miserable, but they can damage your home. Some winterizing can wait, some can’t. Make a list of what needs to be done, and tackle the time-sensitive tasks first. Here’s a simple checklist from the association to help you get a jump on winter.

Indoor Winterizing

Examine doors and replace weather-stripping as needed.

Examine window caulking and reseal where needed.

Examine and repair vents where needed.

Clean chimneys and flues.

Remove items near heat vents.

Place nonskid runners or door mats outside to help keep water, sand and salt out of the house.

Outdoor Winterizing

Cut back tree branches and shrubs that hide signs or block light.

Examine outdoor handrails and tighten if needed.

Turn off electrical breakers for outdoor equipment.

Close hose bibs.

Clean out gutters and downspouts.

Clear yard drains.

Spray outdoor locks and hinges with lubricant.

Stake driveway and walkway edges that may be difficult to find under deep snow.

Assemble, stockpile or refresh winter supplies:

Batteries

Candles and matches

Ice melt and deicer

Sand

Snow shovels

Generator fuel

Antifreeze

National Survey Shows That HOA Residents Are Happy

We’re confident that most residents are happy living in our community—and we certainly hope you are among them. But how do the more than 62 million Americans who live in homeowners associations and condominium communities feel about their own associations? Are they happy with their elected boards? How do they feel about the rules? What about their association assessments?

The Foundation for Community Association Research, an affiliate of Community Associations Institute (CAI), sponsored a recent national public opinion survey to answer these and other questions. Here are some of the key findings:

• 70 percent of residents in common-interest communities say they are satisfied with their community association experience, while 8 percent express dissatisfaction and 22 percent are neutral on the question.
• 88 percent of residents believe their association board members strive to serve the best interests of the community, while 12 percent disagree or aren’t sure.
• 73 percent say their professional managers provide value to their communities, while 21 percent say their managers aren’t an asset to the association and 6 percent say they aren’t sure.
• 76 percent believe their own community association rules “protect and enhance” property values. Only 3 percent say the rules harm property values, while the rest see no difference.
• 81 percent of residents say they get a “good” or “great” return for their association assessments, while 18 percent say the return is “not so good or bad.” The rest were unsure.

We’d like to think that we can do even better than the national averages, so please tell us what you think we can do to make our community a better place to live. We encourage you to get involved, so let us know how you can help. There is no substitute for active and constructive involvement and no better way to build a true sense of community.

If you’re especially pleased about our community, share that too! It’s always good to know we’re on the right track.

More national survey results, which include comparative data from similar surveys in 2005, 2007 and 2009, are available under “Research Projects” at www.cairf.org.

AMG Team of Managers

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not a single act; it’s a habit.  Though ancient Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle said those words more than two thousand years ago, they still ring true at AMG, Association Management Group, one of the Carolinas’ largest professional homeowner association managers with five offices in North and South Carolina. The company just upped its Excellence quotient with the addition of four  new staff members to its Greensboro, NC office.  Chelsi Kizziah, Dayla Maddox, Melissa Cook and Tyanna Waddell have joined AMG’s community management team, a group of seasoned, CAI-credentialed managers (Community Associations Institute) with an average of over10 years in the industry–some with 20 to 30 years of association management expertise.  

​As part of the AMG team of managers, Kizziah, Maddox, Cook and Waddell will work with some of the Triad’s finest communities to help their volunteer boards organize and conduct board meetings; prepare budgets and funding reserves; draft assessment collection policies and procedures; create, implement and enforce rules and governing documents; collect delinquent payments, prepare financial statements and reporting methods and operations; evaluate risk management and insurance programs; implement maintenance programs; prepare bid requests and identify key contract provisions; recruit, select and manage personnel; and facilitate communications. 

According to AMG founder and President, Paul Mengert, the four new associates are a perfect fit for the company because of their empathy, diligence, customer service skills and expertise in project facilitation. “AMG is continually looking for the best and brightest to join our corporate family,” he said. “Over the last two decades AMG has built a nationally-accredited team of community managers based on its ability to identify not only the right skills but the right attitudes to serve its clients. An important part of AMG's role is to link our clients with experts who can help them improve the operational efficiency of their communities and, ultimately, increase property values. We look forward to Chelsi, Dayla, Melissa and Tyanna  providing our hallmark personal service to clients and helping communities stay healthy, attractive and connected.” 

About AMG:  AMG is a professional community association management company dedicated to building effective community associations. AMG guides and assists executive boards to help protect the association's interests, enhance the lives of community members and improve the property values in the community. With offices throughout the Carolinas in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Raleigh, NC, and Greenville and Aiken, SC, AMG is a knowledgeable partner in enforcing community governing documents with a proven set of processes and techniques, and supporting communities with a broad range of services which can be tailored to individual community needs. Association Management Group, Inc. is a locally Accredited Business by the BBB and is a nationally Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC) by the Community Associations Institute. For more about AMG, visit www.amgworld.com.

Techno Trash

The proliferation of iPhones, iPads, smartphones and other personal communication devices in the last few years has made communications easier and more convenient. It also has created millions of tons of toxic electronic trash.

Cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury are among the toxic and potentially cancer-causing substances used to construct smartphones and other personal electronics, according to a 2011 article in The Washington Post. When phones and other devices are discarded, these substances leach into the ground and water, poisoning plant, animal—and sometimes human—life.

In the U.S. alone, Americans disposed of 126 million mobile phones in 2007, reports The Post, and in the last five years, “the developing world has tripled its disposal of electronic junk.” While almost all parts of smartphones are recyclable, Martin Nielsen, chief executive of Waste Systems, says that the U.S. recycling rate for personal electronic devices is low—only 18 percent. In a report released by Electronics Takeback Coalition, the recycling rate for cell phones alone is even lower—a mere 10 percent.

With all the damage that improperly discarded electronic devices can cause, it’s important for everyone to know how to correctly dispose of them. Stores such as Best Buy, Radio Shack and Apple will recycle your unwanted electronics, regardless of where the device was purchased. You can also learn more about electronic recycling programs for individuals and businesses at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website, www.epa.gov/oaintrnt/practices/electronics.htm.