The Scrooge Within

I don't know about you, but most of the times, the holiday season seems to bring me more stress and frustration than merriment and joy. I can't say I've truly enjoyed a complete holiday season in many years. Now, granted, the traveling aspect is really a drag. You rush from one place to another, not really getting to relax and enjoy each other until it's time to rush off to see someone else. You feel obligated to stuff everyone into a small time frame, and then you just feel exhausted and unfulfilled afterwards. (That's what she said...)

I'm hoping that this year may be different. We aren't traveling to PA to see my family until January 6th. But, my schedule is pretty full up until Christmas anyway. After "Scrooge" is over this weekend, my nighttime activities will at least be filled with time with friends. I'm hoping that it will bring me out of the seasonal depression I seem to be in. I get stressed out about money, trying to pick the "perfect" gift for people who have everything and who couldn't possibly need anything more, and feeling overwhelmed by the over-commercialization of this day. I think I want to enjoy my friends and family without the expectations and guilty feelings that inevitably come from what I do or do not do for them. Do I place these expectations on myself? Perhaps. Has anyone ever told me that I didn't do enough for them? No. But I feel like that's true. Maybe I put too much emphasis on the material side of Christmas, just like society tells us to, instead of focusing on the small things that create love and happiness.

As Christmas Present says in The Muppet Christmas Carol, "Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas". The happiness of sharing a meal with family and friends, a warm bed to sleep in, loving arms to be hugged with, a laugh, a smile. These should be the things we look forward to, the things we relish...not whether or not an Xbox 360 appeared under the Christmas tree. Andrew and I decided to only do stocking stuffers and then spend the rest of our present budget on a date night. We have so many things that we don't use, so many material goods that sit and collect dust. We have so much to be thankful for this year, we don't need to waste the money that we don't have on more things to clutter up our lives. We've both been extremely busy for the last few months that a time to reflect and share will be greatly appreciated.

How does one banish the Scrooge within? I'm going to try with a healthy dose of friendship, food, and fun. The holidays seem to be a time of overindulgence, be it food or drink. The after the overindulgence, comes the guilt, then the resolutions, then more guilt after the resolutions are broken. Enjoy the festivities, be it a lot or a little. But don't beat yourself up over it. I have already made a plan, unless there's a ton of snow/ice on the ground, I'll be running on Christmas morning in preparation for the day's activities. I ran on Thanksgiving morning and not only did it give me more energy for the day, I was able to eat in peace. A peaceful mind makes a holiday that much better. The evil voices in my head telling me not to eat that, or put that down, were silenced and I enjoyed the day more so than I had in awhile. Andrew and I were also freshly engaged, and that helped the feelings of happiness and joy among us and our family and friends. If we could bottle the happiness and excitement and sell it, we'd be millionaires. Let's hope that we can recapture those feelings and enjoy the day.

I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season. Focus on the love, the happiness, the friends, the family and forget about the spats, the tiffs and the guilt. Enjoy the time spent with your friends and family. Life is too short to focus on the bad.

And as a very wise man once said..."God Bless Us, Everyone..."