Summary:

In this gentle and reflective Holiday Special, I’m sharing a Christmas Eve message straight from the hear.

This episode is an invitation to slow down, breathe, and give yourself permission to feel whatever is present—joy, grief, gratitude, exhaustion, or a mix of it all.

I talk about the pressure we often place on ourselves to make the holidays “magical,” and why that expectation can disconnect us from what we actually need. 

Instead, I encourage you to ground yourself in the present moment, release the rules, and let this season look the way you need it to look.

This isn’t about doing more or being more—it’s about resting, reflecting, and offering yourself kindness. If this time of year feels tender, quiet, or complicated, this episode is for you.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Permission to Feel—Without Fixing

You don’t have to force joy or gratitude. Every emotion that shows up belongs.

Audience follow-up → What are you feeling right now if you let yourself be honest?

Grounding in the Present Moment

A simple pause and breath can bring you back to yourself when things feel heavy or overwhelming.

Audience follow-up → Where can you pause today, even for 30 seconds?

Letting Go of the “Perfect Holiday” Myth

The holidays don’t have to look a certain way to be meaningful.

Audience follow-up → What expectation can you release this season?

Finding Joy From the Inside Out

Joy doesn’t have to come from the calendar, the traditions, or the noise—it can come from within.

Audience follow-up → What brings you a sense of peace or steadiness right now?

Rest Is Not a Reward—It’s a Requirement

This season can be a time to rest, reflect, and reset without guilt.

Audience follow-up → How can you be a little gentler with yourself this week?

✨ Reflection Prompts:

•  What does “enough” look like for you this holiday season?
•  Where are you pushing when you could be resting?
•  What would it feel like to trust yourself to set your own rules?

🧠 Who This Episode Is For:

•  Anyone feeling overwhelmed or emotionally tender during the holidays
•  Leaders and high-achievers who struggle to slow down
•  Those craving a quieter, more meaningful end to the year
•  Anyone who needs permission to pause, breathe, and just be

🎄 Wishing you peace, presence, and self-compassion—today and always.

📩 Want to Go Deeper?

Follow Lori on LinkedIn to continue the conversation

• Book a Leadership Strategy Call with Lori: loripine.com

🎧 Subscribe to The Joy CEO Podcast

⭐️ Leave a review to help other heart-centered leaders find the show

📲 Share this episode with someone who’s navigating pressure and wants to do it with more grace

Transcript

Hi, this is Lori Pine, the joy, CEO, and welcome to the Joy CEO podcast, where we talk about leadership clarity, finding your joy and the kind of joy that actually strengthens your leadership and is no floss. I'm so glad you're here with me today. Today's episode is actually going to be a little bit different.

We. Are releasing this episode on Christmas Eve, and so if you are listening in happy Holidays. I hope you are in all of the fields in all of your joy, and I just wanted to show up for you today, not with a lesson. But with a little bit of encouragement, reminding you to pause, and by the end of this very short episode, you will have with you three things.

One, permission to feel however you are actually feeling today without needing [00:01:00] to fix it, change it, stuff it down. Pretend that it's not happening to a little grounding reminder. To be where your feet are. It's really easy for our minds to take over, for us to wander into our thoughts. Just a little reminder to be exactly where your feet are.

And number three, an invitation for you to take a quiet breath, to just get in touch with what it is that you're feeling, whatever that may be. I invite you to take a breath and that's it. Let's dive in. So if you're listening on Christmas Eve, I just want to start by saying, I'm really glad you're here and I hope that you are exactly where you wanna be.

And this week can really tend to just strip things down for us. The world gets [00:02:00] really quiet. Meetings slow, people start to disappear. From our calendar and from our work life. Our inbox will get really quiet. What's left is us, and we find ourselves just meeting ourselves and that can lend itself to a mixture of emotions.

Sometimes we really thrive in the busyness and the chaos of our business and professional lives because it distracts us from ourselves and our emotions. And. The thoughts that can really derail us. So when things get quiet there, we are left with us. And you might notice that you're tired or stretched, or even a little bit reflective.

You might be full and alive and connected and full of [00:03:00] joy, but maybe you are feeling both of these things all at once. Because that typically happens as we lead into these really big holidays. So if you're not feeling light and joyful, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're not doing anything wrong at all.

In fact, I think that's more normal than not. So here's the gentle reminder to really try to be where your feet are. And if you don't have all of the things and you're tempted to run to Target or Costco or Walmart and face the crowds and the lines, maybe just rethink that. Is it absolutely necessary? Can you live without it?

Will there be mass devastation if you don't have the thing? You're literally about to kill yourself over to go stand in line [00:04:00] and get, and this idea of being where your feet are is what I keep coming back to for myself personally during this week and during this time. So, you know. This idea that the moment has to be magical, well, that's shouldered by us as moms and women.

And maybe it doesn't need to be magical. Maybe you don't need to perform, you know, some big, you know, performance, some big theatrical display or fix anything that is at hand, maybe just being where your feet are right now. Is enough. So remember, joy isn't something that we perform for other people. Joy is something that we already have inside of us, and [00:05:00] our job is remembering to go and find it, to go and feel it, and to allow it its own space and its own presence.

So I just invite you to feel what's right, to take a little breath, get in touch with yourself, and notice where you are, notice what's okay in the moment, what might be going really well, and take that in.

Take that in, and just feel that, okay. So that's it for me today. No lesson. Just a pause, just a hello from my heart to your heart. However you're spending this day with people you love or missing someone in quiet and chaos. I'm just wishing you some [00:06:00] gentleness, some grace, some joy. And a reminder that I am so glad to be doing this with you.

You're not alone. Whatever it is you're feeling in the jambalaya of human emotion, it's, it's okay. And there's no right or wrong. There's no one way that we show up, especially in these charged times in these holidays where, you know, there's kind of a. Performative aspect to it. There's a Pinterest role model of how it's supposed to look or what it should be, but the truth is you can set your own rules for it, and I encourage you to do that.

I'm so glad to be doing it with you. Have a wonderful holiday, everyone. I hope you get some rest. I hope Santa is [00:07:00] good to you. And by that I mean I hope you are good to you. And I'll look forward to seeing you next week. Be well. Thanks for listening to the Joy CEO. I hope today's conversation left you feeling seen, stretched, and a little more grounded in your own joy.

If something resonated, be sure to hit subscribe. Leave a five star review and share this episode with someone walking a similar path. And if you're ready to take this work deeper, connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram at Lori Pine, or head over to my website, lori pine.com, to learn more about coaching retreats and how we can work together.

Because joy isn't just personal, it's powerful. And when you lead with joy, you don't just rise, you bring others with you. Until next time, keep leading with heart and don't forget to claim your joy.