One of my Favorite times of year is Christmas, but once it's over you can feel let down. So let's Review Ways to keep that after Christmas Depression at bay!
If your family is anything like mine, the days leading up to Christmas have been full of all kinds of trips, errands to run, parties to attend and a host of other fun and time consuming activities. Depending on the ages of your children or grandchildren, there will also be more than one Christmas recital to attend as well.
This is not a complaint, but, it is a reality. We get so wound up with places to go and people to see, that when it stops, we feel lost! Some of us will only feel that way after the New Year because we are still in the middle of all the partying still. Others, who do not go "all out" for New Years will feel that way sooner.
The bottom line is, it doesn't have to be this way at all!
Part of your planning for the holidays should include that time between the holidays, so that holiday let down is minimized or completely obliterated. No one really wants to be depressed at the best time of the year.
So let's make those plans now! If the plan is in place, you will actually follow through.
So let's get down to some concrete ways to stave off any negative feelings.
First of all, if you have family visiting, make arrangements to go somewhere on an outing.
- visit the downtown area and look over the lights and Christmas Displays
- Go sledding or skating, if your body allows that kind of seasonal fun.
- Make Snow Angels (with the above caveat)
- Go to a park with a handful of bird seed, for those birds who don't have a feeder close by
- Pick up some small gift cards for a coffee shop and give them to "Street People" to enjoy
- Visit a local church and see their Nativity Displays
- take lots of pictures while out and about
- when you come home, make some Hot Chocolate and watch a favorite movie
- Be Thankful for the Blessing of Family and Friends.
Between Christmas and New Years is a great time to make some plans for the next year too! Many a lively conversation could be had over those plans. Will you make resolutions for 2018? Will you decide to travel more or less? How about making a resolution to get together with friends more often? It is a great idea to look forward, but also take some time to look back and be thankful for all the good things that happened in the year just past.
When the hustle and bustle has come to a standstill, it's no longer a dreaded fear, rather it's a time to take stock. Look ahead at what might be coming your way, and look back to see where you have been. If things weren't the greatest, find ways to make this year to come, better. If the year past was wonderful all around then celebrate this wholeheartedly, and pray that the year to come will be as blessed as the one just past. Gratitude for everything is a great way to live. You don't become nearly as disappointed and you really don't let yourself become engrossed in the things you have no control over either.
Start taking note of things you are thankful for and try to do something new in the coming year.
If you need help thinking of all the things to be grateful for, there are several different types of journals that can give you some coaching either in pictures or scriptures. One of my favorites is the one:
If you don't have a gratitude journal, a blank book works well too. Sometimes though in our busy lives, we need a hint of encouragement and for that a true gratitude journal is a bonus. Each page will give you a little inspiration to get you started with the right attitude. If you are not a particularly spiritual person, there are journals that remind you of gratitude without scriptural readings. Whichever one is to your liking, will be a good choice and they are inexpensive. Maybe Santa brought you one, but if not that's okay too. You can always get your own when you feel the need for it. It will be an investment in yourself, for your mental and physical and spiritual well being.
May I take this opportunity to wish you and all your family a most Beautiful, Blessed and Wonderful New Year!
pictures courtesy of Pixabay.com
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