How to Enjoy Your Christmas
Season
Do you envision the perfect holiday, the kind featured in
greeting card commercials and portrayed in home magazines, and
then feel discouraged and disappointed when your Christmas
fails to live up to the hype? Here are five ways to help you
enjoy your holiday season:
1) Keep the focus on Christ. Christmas is
about Christ's birth. By keeping the focus on celebrating the
spiritual aspect of the holy day instead of the commercial
aspect of the holiday, you will be better able to keep your
priorities in order.
2) Evaluate your traditions. Many times we do certain things a
certain way simply because we have always done them that way.
Take a good look at the items on your "must-do" list. Do these
traditions still bring joy to the holiday season or are they a
burden? Consider crossing one or two off your list to help
reduce your stress level.
3) Do a "Secret Santa" with your extended family. Does your
Uncle Bob really need five new knick-knacks for his house?
Chances are, you don't either. With the adults in your family,
do a "Secret Santa" where you draw names and each buy a gift
for one person. You still have the fun of both choosing and
opening a present but your budget and your shopping list will
thank you.
4) Do pot-luck dinners. No one person should have the burden of
holiday cooking. If everyone brings a dish, no one will be
stuck in the kitchen and everyone can enjoy the occasion.
5) Accept your family's imperfections. As much as we want
our families to be perfect, they are not. We seem to be able to
accept that the other 364 days of the year, but on Christmas we
have higher standards. Chances are, your children will continue
to aggravate each other, be somewhat disheveled, and not have
perfect table manners. If you are celebrating with your own
parents and siblings or in-laws, additional issues may arise.
Celebrate the joy of simply being together rather than
concentrating on what is not right in the picture.
About the author:
Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur is editor of Spiritual Woman
(www.spiritualwoman.net ). Visit her
blog at
spiritualwomanthoughts.blogspot.com
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