Today is Christmas Eve’s Eve. I hope everyone is feeling more excited and
pleased with the approaching holiday.
However I’m sure there are quite a few of you who are feeling a bit
stressed and maybe even down. As I’vementioned before I can easily fall into a holiday slump. To avoid that, here are 5 tips on how to feel
more Joy during Christmas and the Holidays Season.
- Figure out what is most important to you and try to make that happen. For me that is spending time with my mom and people whose company I enjoy the most.
- Try to understand what is most important to the people who are important to you. I think a lot holiday disagreements and confusion could be minimized if not avoided if we had a better understanding of how our loved ones really wanted to celebrate and vice versa. This may require a little thing called communication where you ask them what they like best about the holidays, what there fondest memories are, etc…
- Accept that you are not a kid anymore. The things that made Christmas and the Holidays great as a kid may not be available to you know as an adult. We used to have big Christmas dinners at my Uncle’s house when I was a kid. Now everyone tends to have small gatherings at individual houses. Things just change over time. Some changes you will like and some you won't. The quicker you can accept the changes and focus on the ones you like the quicker you can stop expecting something unrealistic and setting yourself up for disappointment.
- Focus on the little things. While the main thing I want out of Christmas and the Holidays is to spend time with my mom and other loved ones there are lots of little things that really add to my holiday experience. I really enjoy the holiday decorations, watching my pets react to the Christmas tree, giving gifts in pretty wrapping paper and gift bags, eating traditional foods, and playing a Christmas prank J
- If you feel your Holidays are becoming too materialistic ask yourself what is the emotion or experience you are trying to give via the gifts. Those emotions would be your true motivation. Then focus on expressing them along with handing over the pretty shiny things. I think most of us are trying to make people feel loved, special, and appreciated when we give them gifts. So focus on expressing that.
These tips can be applied to any holiday and even our birthdays. What tips would you add? Which of the above tips do you find most helpful?
