Holiday Humbug???

Christmas was really fun for me when I was a kid. I think most of us had fond memories of Christmastime. But... as we got older... we became more and more disenchanted with it.

My recent past has been one filled with a lot of bah humbugs.
Every time the year rolled around, I'd be miserable. It was also the time when I would get sick a lot.
This was when I was in my 20's. Those were really bad years... a lost decade, if you will.

But then, I began to change my mentality.
It began with a new diet of daily fruit intake.... took care of the seasonal sickness big time.
I never had to take a flu shot and I weather the seasons in near perfect health. Flu's last only 24 hours. Yes, the aching bones, high fever variety.

With new health, came a newfound sense of what this season is all about.

It is what you make of it, I find.
I no longer celebrate the shallower aspects of the holiday. That's what really depressed me, anyway.
the thought that we should be extra nice just this one time a year? That's bogus. If I am gonna be kind this month, why can't I carry it over all year round, right?

I face this holiday not with a sense of dread anymore or cynical humbug.
I just face it with the mental state that I am determined  to be happy no matter what.
And this is what is important; I never let anyone dictate HOW I should be happy --during this holiday or whenever. That's the root of all misery, I find, when we are pressured to have that postcard perfect Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving or Christmas and anything less than that is cause for depression or sadness.

I don't expect anything nor am I pressured to conform to what this holiday is supposed to be.
I give gifts when needed, and I don't give gifts when I clearly don't want to. And most important of all, I give gifts only to those whom I feel need or deserve them. I don't buy gifts just because. People already have way too much crap in their lives. I must do my part to not add to the clutter in their homes.

the result of all this is there is NO pressure on me to "have fun".
And because there is no pressure to have fun... I have a jolly good time... Not just this season, but all year round.

Merry Christmas, Hannukah and all that good stuff!