2017 Home for the Holiday
"Getting in the MOOD for Christmas"

What do I want my Christmas to be?
by Pastoral Care Consultant, Dr. Paul Boatman

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[December 06, 2017]  We've all experienced something like this:

Christmas is over. Traveling is completed. The hectic schedule is settling down. Tired and seasonally bloated bodies are gradually recovering. The credit card bills are trickling (or pouring) in. You look back at your Christmas experience and ask, "What have I done?!"

We may have been hopeful that we would be surprised by Christmas, but instead we feel like we have merely survived the celebration.

Do you wonder what you were really expecting from Christmas? Our expectations may vary depending upon our definition. What is your definition of Christmas?

Some Christian people define Christmas as an exclusive focus upon the unique birth of the baby they believe to have been the Son of God. For such a pointed focus there is no room for Santa, reindeer, holly, lights and decorations, etc. Christmas may still be celebrated, but in a somber fashion.

Some thoroughly secular people focus only on a season of good feeling and festivities. Any emphasis on "Christmas Story" is likely to be relegated to cultural mythology that is tolerated as a part of the emotionally uplifting season.

Most of us are between these two extremes. You may need to define what Christmas really is to YOU.

Here are some thoughts for you to consider create more satisfying experiences and memories of the holidays:

- What faith expectations do you want to have met?

- What emotional needs do you want the Christmas observance to satisfy?

- What are your family expectations and community expectations that you deal with?

- Are these expectations there because you are committed to them, or simply because you feel obligated?

- What pressure do you sense from others to "do Christmas" a certain way?

- When you have answered these questions you may be ready "reboot," turn off the machine that is carrying you into an out-of-control Christmas.

The following suggestions are offered to help you rethink and reset your Christmas goals and expectations.

Set reasonable expectations consistent with your beliefs about Christmas

Commit only to what you believe in. Do only those things that fit your deep values. Being tolerant of diverse approaches to Christmas activities does not mean you have to be involved in those actions.

Budget your Christmas

Gifts, decorations, travel expenses, meals, and specialty food items all have the ability to lead you to spend money you do not have available. Planning ahead and setting boundaries for spending in each area enables you anticipate a less stressful Post-Christmas season.

Guard against depression

What? Depression in the "season to be jolly?" Breaking away from discouraging and aimless activities can keep you from the despair of feeling hopeless and discouraged because you didn't do everything that you thought Christmas involved.
 

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Give for the joy of giving

Giving because you love is far different from giving to engender love. Keeping score on gifts makes giving more like an empty ritual. Consider trimming your giving list. Some friends or relatives may be relieved when you say, "Let's not give to each other this year. Let's give to someone who has greater need." That might enable you to expand your giving list, either to include people you know to be in need, or through programs in churches or social agencies that specialize in caring for people, especially children, whose needs are great.

Decorate "retro"

Young adults or recently relocated people may not have Christmas decorations in storage, but those who have experienced many Christmases often have older decorations that never come out of the box anymore.

Experience gleeful nostalgia. Your children may find delight in the oldies. Your budget may delight in what you did not spend this year. Nobody really believes that elaborate spending on decorations either produces or demonstrates the real Christmas Spirit.

Start early to "get your mind around" Christmas

Christmas should not blind-side any of us. Retailers and E-tailers urge us to start our Christmas spending early. We can have better control of our celebration if we move even earlier on our Christmas thinking and planning.

Discuss Christmas expectations with the people you are closest to. This should probably have taken place last month, but tomorrow at the latest. . .

Do you need help in stirring your Christmas Spirit? Use Netflix or other movie sources to watch, maybe even binge-watch classic Christmas movies. . .

Read the Christmas story in the Bible before the days you expect it to be read in your church. . .

As the various Christmas programs and concerts begin to pop-up in different places in the community, go to several of them, including presentations in churches and venues other than the ones you usually attend. And go, not as a critic, but as a participant.

If you will consider these suggestions, and adopt a few of them, your January reflections on Christmas are definitely likely to be less stressful, and probably somewhat merrier. Make Christmas what you really want it to be. Make it YOUR Christmas.

 

Read all the articles in our new
2017 Home for the Holiday magazine

Title
CLICK ON TITLES TO GO TO PAGES
Page
Welcoming the season of home and family 4
"Getting in the mood" 7
Finding a little more 'Happy" in your holidays 11
Simple Joys for the holidays 14
Crafting for the holidays with the kids 19
Holiday recipes a time to rekindle family memories 25
Hot buys and trendy gifts this season 31
Reconnecting with holiday traditions 38
What do I want my Christmas to be? 43
Greetings and messages from local officials and LDN 46

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