Holiday images are painted to represent traditional perfection by the media. If your holiday plans are not filled to overflowing with family, friends, and happy togetherness, you may be feeling lonely, sad, and irritable. Do you struggle with the desire to have this special time of the year conform to the images portrayed in magazines, on television, and in the movies?
Our thoughts create our reality. If we focus on what’s missing in our lives, it leads to depression and unhappiness. There’s nothing cast in stone about the way any day has to be. We have a choice. We can focus on what we don’t have, or we can focus on what we can create from our imagination.
If you’re away from friends and family, or for some reason don’t have special people available, you can still have a wonderful day. Do you know other people who are also alone? You could organize a gathering for them, or you could do some kind of volunteer work for those less fortunate than you. Both of those activities would warm others’ hearts, and, at the same time, make you feel very good about yourself. If those options don’t sound right for you, maybe there’s something that you love doing but seldom have time for. Do you enjoy getting out in nature? You could go for a hike, a bike ride, or a walk through a park. Maybe you have a hobby, like sewing, woodworking, drawing, etc. You could spend the day immersing yourself in creativity. Do you like movies? You could find a comedy, adventure, or mystery to transport you to other worlds.
The point is that your holiday can be created from many options. You get to decide how to spend those hours. Be creative. Think outside the box. Try something new. If whatever you do, winds up not being satisfying, you can always do something different next year. If it winds up being a lot of fun or deeply moving, maybe you’ve created a new ritual! Just because the media presents the holiday in a certain way, or just because in the past you’ve done certain things, it doesn’t mean that you can’t forge a new path this year! Choose to focus on the many options you have available to you. Choose to focus on the positives, on what you have to be grateful for, and you will find many hidden blessings. It’s all about choice!
Until next time,
Linda
sometimes i think creating a new tradition, like you mentioned, can be the best way to deal with this time of the year! great post 🙂
Thanks, Whitney Elizabeth. I appreciate your comment. I’m glad that you liked the post. It’s important to empower ourselves to be creative! Just because things aren’t going the way we think they should, doesn’t mean that we need to give in to sadness and misery. I hope that you are going to have a happy, creative day tomorrow!
Linda