Now what? It’s over, the gathering of family, or at least those available, a table spread with dozens of dishes, full bellies, the warmth of the heater on the drive home. Now what?
With Thanksgiving now behind us, this years Christmas is looming closer than the years before, I heard on the radio today, it’s like three weeks away (25 days if I did the math right, but who’s counting?). I feel like this year’s holiday season is especially disjointed for me. Family is spread out, travel agendas don’t match well, everything feels a bit piecemeal. Sigh. On top of all my mixed seasonal holiday feelings is the rising tide of gift-giving hopelessness. In all openness, I struggle with the holidays in general now. In another life time far far away, we would all sit at the thanksgiving table before we ate and have to say something for which we were thankful. I think this tradition has now slipped away with this year. It’s all good I guess. One of many. Sometimes these things just happen, people get older, everyone moves on. But if Thanksgiving is like a city bus, Christmas is a freight train. It’s coming and there is nothing anyone could really do to stop it. I know the reason for the season and all the good stuff it’s supposed to be, but it doesn’t really help. At least not yet. It’s just something I guess I need to get used to, kind of like the new normal. It is what it is. There is still time to get in to the spirit. Right?
Right! Because who wants to read a depressing post like this when everywhere you look are jingle bells, candy canes, Hanukkah bushes, and artificial snow in the window corners. If you find yourself feeling like a fleck circling the drain, you need to reset your thoughts a bit. You may need to dig deep, but find even just one thing, the one thing which worked well for you today. Maybe a person who makes you happy, anything really, to build on. Once you find one happy thought, embrace it. Build on it. You can borrow a could of mine if you need to. Example one – your dog wasn’t the one who had such an anxiety attack last night, he ate through the cat door to try to get in to the house (yeah, really happened). Example two – the six inch water main which burst at work today, completely shutting the building down, was fixable in just two hours (including the hour round trip to get the parts). Example three – well, you get the idea, I’ll let you think of something now. Just pick one thing which worked out, anything, and say it to yourself. It can be as simple as having electricity and a computer just to read posts like this. Lots of people struggle this time of year. You can help them by reaching out. Doing something nice for someone is like doing something nice for yourself. Build on that and it’s a step in the right direction.
Despite a mild case of the holiday blues (I think maybe I’ve been indoors too much lately), there is much I’m truly thankful for. I just need to listen, and take the next step.
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