Another Anxious Holiday
10/23/2023
The countdown begins. You know the one I’m referring to. The one that begins, innocently enough, when you are in a store shopping and you hear it: the dreaded holiday music. Halloween is still a week away, but the marketing sales people want to remind us that Christmas is right around the corner.
Holiday Plan
Unfortunately, my holiday season always starts with pre-stress. That’s the anticipatory stress about the upcoming stress. During this stage I attempt to come up with a plan to keep the stress at bay. Some years it works, others it does not.
Commercial Christmas
Every year I need a reminder that finding the perfect gift for everyone on my list is impossible and that attitude just ruins any chance of holiday joy. Back in the day, it seemed like Christmas was more about spending time with loved ones, practicing family traditions, and the spirit of giving. Now it feels like it’s more about buying people things that they don’t need and possibly don’t even want just because the television ads guilted us into it.
Ideal Holiday
Sometimes I wish that the holidays didn’t include gift giving at all. But rather they were centered around spending time with family and friends, playing games, eating good food, and enjoying each other’s company. What a revolution that would be! A holiday not centered around shopping!
One day, I hope to get there. But I’m not there yet. So let me start my Christmas list on my phone in hopes, fingers crossed, that I won’t be stressed out this year. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with wishful thinking!
