Your Life, Your Holiday

 

It is that time of year again.  A time of celebrations, friends, family, fun, parties, and tons of happiness.  Time off from work with all the stuff that must be done by the of the year.  Traveling in storms long distances with content children singing in the back seat.  (eye roll please) Shopping for the perfect gift, the perfect wrapping paper, for the perfect person you barely know.

 

Holidays used to be fun.   It was a time of fancy foods / special treats. Time to see family and friends.  A time to stay up late, snuggle on the couch, and watch holiday movies with friends. It was a good time.  We all looked forward to not going to school, building snow forts, and having hot chocolate.  We bundled up warm to see the lights.  Everyone smiled and said hello.  Even the grocery store jingled.

 

Then we grew up.

 

The holidays seemed to get more and more stressful. There is more and more stuff to do.  More and more things get added on. More and more expectations and every year must be better than the last.  It somehow has to live up to the memories of the past but then it never does.  The fun of family and parties turns into stress, people to avoid, fake smiles, and all the “oh we should get together more often.”

 

Is it our age or our expectations that have changed things?  The older we get the less our parents do for us and the more things we need to do.  The pressure is on us to make the holidays as wonderful for the next generation as they were when we were children.  But why?  Why???

 

What is absolutely necessary?  The hoopla and the busyness and all the expectations. It just leads to desperation, depression, and a letdown when our memories of the past are not fulfilled today.  Are the memories we think we remember even real?  Or just a hallmark movie?  It was the good old days. Was it really?  The memory has become our teddy bear/security blanket.  We hope that all will be good and easy again, the way we want to remember things.

 

Tromping through the snow.  The smell of pine.  White Christmas playing on the record player. Snowball fights.  Getting to eat all the different pies and everything smelling of cookies.  Phone calls, e-mails, planning.  Who is bringing what, where, and when?  Which day does each side of the family get, and divide up the kids/toys/activities/gifts?  How much to spend on whom? To draw names or not?

 

Self-inflicted torment.  Why?  Why Bother?  Your HOLIDAY!!  Your LIFE!! Get off the guilt train.  It is only stressing you out because you let it.  This hell is self-induced.  According to the pictures, Christmas wasn’t always white.   There were no presents under the tree every year.  Family members were not close by.  Don’t forget the raw/burnt turkey.  The yelling over the game. And that annoying family member you couldn’t get away from fast enough.

Get a glad pine/pumpkin pie/candy cane candle.  Order a pizza/takeout.  Spend the day off the way you want to.  Blame it all on social distancing.  Set up an online meeting and mute the annoying one.  It may be Christmas.  But for most of us, it is a day off from the routine.  Celebrate it the way you want to, stress-free, with the heart of your inner child.