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It is Christmas time again, which holds different meanings for everyone. Some may not even celebrate Christmas, while for others it may be one of the most exciting holidays of the year. Whatever it may be, hope you are enjoying a nice day.
For me, I fall into the latter category. Christmas is one of the most exciting holidays, since it has always been big for my family and friends. It occurs in many preparatory phases.
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The decorating phase:
This consists of a Home Depot tree picking ritual, where we pick out the noblest of the Noble Fir. Then we do the honors of decorating the tree. Over the years, we have changed our decorations and this year we are going through a silver phase (silver music note in the center-music runs in our family-), silver round ornaments, silver ribbon, snowflake ornaments, tiny star, mismatching lights.
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The material gathering phase:
This is the infamous wrapping of presents, distributing, and receiving presents.
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It is usually combined with the social gathering phase:
I can be social with people I have not seen for a while like my closest friends. Post-college, we have not been able to hang out as much, so we use this holiday as a good time to meet up.
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The finale:
On Christmas day, I help my parents cook, do some social drinking, play games, play holiday music, and of course open the presents. The Dumb Little Man blog also suggests great activities to do on Christmas as well as other holidays.
While holidays in general can be a great time, it can also be stressful or even sad. A couple of Christmas seasons, I have had dear family members and family friends pass on. Christmas can remind me of the loss and sadness of not having them physically with us. But it can also be a time of reflection and a good time where we can share stories of good memories we have had with those individuals. Psych Central has a good blog on how to deal with holiday grief.
Holidays can also be stressful. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with get togethers, as fun as it can be. I’ve found some ways to deal with the stress of family gatherings.
I am fortunate that I don’t have problems with my in-laws. There’s two reasons for that:
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I’m not married yet.
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My potential in-laws are loving people.
But no matter how close you may be the Ask Dan and Jennifer blog gives great suggestions.
Last but not least, holidays in general can be overwhelming. Ririan Project blog
has a great article about how to deal with the holiday hassles.
Furthermore, I’ve found some energy boosters and ways to deal with stress.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and please feel free to leave ideas and thoughts!
