Hi all,
I'm wondering how you cope with the holidays. Thanksgiving (for us USA folks) is next week, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa will follow in about a month, and then a week later will be New Years.
My health always takes a downturn beginning in mid-September, so starting with Halloween in October until my birthday in February, it is one major event after another that I'm too tired to participate in. It was really hard when my children were young and at home — you just can't skip the holidays with kids — and now that they're gone I often just do a Bah Humbug act and let the days go by.
But . . . Days seem longer and lonelier when I know that friends and family are gathering without me. On the other hand . . . what a relief not to have to feel the added pressure, the added expense, and the added inevitable crash afterwards.
So how are the holidays for you? I'm interested in how you cope or maybe even flourish during these times.
Knowing I will be alone next Thursday, I want to prepare myself to be present on that day for both the grief and the gratitude that I feel in my life.
I'm wondering how you cope with the holidays. Thanksgiving (for us USA folks) is next week, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa will follow in about a month, and then a week later will be New Years.
My health always takes a downturn beginning in mid-September, so starting with Halloween in October until my birthday in February, it is one major event after another that I'm too tired to participate in. It was really hard when my children were young and at home — you just can't skip the holidays with kids — and now that they're gone I often just do a Bah Humbug act and let the days go by.
But . . . Days seem longer and lonelier when I know that friends and family are gathering without me. On the other hand . . . what a relief not to have to feel the added pressure, the added expense, and the added inevitable crash afterwards.
So how are the holidays for you? I'm interested in how you cope or maybe even flourish during these times.
Knowing I will be alone next Thursday, I want to prepare myself to be present on that day for both the grief and the gratitude that I feel in my life.