Holidays tend to bring more stress than joy for many people. It isn’t always intentional or unexpected or accidental. There are loads of good intentions along with hope. Sara over at Frozen Pennies posted recently and I think her thoughts are worth contemplating:
I don’t know about you but over the years I have found myself starting to retreat around the beginning of November. The same time the holiday ads start to overwhelm pretty much everything. The over happy, over ecstatic energies make me want to find a place to hide.
For many years I watched crafters create holiday planners, made of multiple pages that covered every single detail of the process. Every. Single. Detail. Multiple. Pages. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a cross reference index show up…
Most folks I know have small budgets that really shouldn’t/couldn’t stretch to cover a holiday, let alone several holidays, that might ‘require’ a planner with several pages. The thought might be nice but the reality of lack of time, lack of funds, lack of fun just made everything exhausting.
Now I know that this time of year is when many businesses make the sales that keep them open for the next several months. But there is something almost abusive about the constant entreaties to spend, spend, spend…
A few years ago I made the decision to pare back my holiday celebrations. I didn’t send out cards to every person I encountered. I didn’t cook a huge meal or two or three. I didn’t give lots of presents. I made quite a discovery. I actually enjoyed the holidays rather than spent them stressed and exhausted.
“But everyone expects…” You might be surprised to discover that “everyone” would prefer to not find themselves caught up in the holiday insanity. You might be shocked to discover that the kids don’t remember every single event. (Do you? Be honest.)
The memories of happy holidays might not be tied to the number of lights on the house/lawn or the quantity of gifts or the variety of places and events. Those memories might be spending time with special people, enjoying a good meal, indulging in one or two special activities.
You don’t need to be in your 50s to make some changes in the way you celebrate.
Give yourself the gift of time this year. Choose those tasks and events that give you joy and set the rest aside for another day. See how you feel and what you think then make the adjustments that make sense for you. It is your holiday season, too!
