The Challenges of This Season
Not everyone finds this time of year so celebratory.
I’ve been tired of the Christmas-themed advertisements and music since they started in early October. Was it so long ago that talk of Christmas didn’t start before Halloween was complete, at the earliest? How about after Thanksgiving?
I’ve worked in retail, so I fully understand that stores were doing all their holiday purchases back in June and July. Somehow, the increasing commercialization of the holidays, and Christmas in particular, stretches further and further back every year.
I’m not trying to harsh anyone’s mellow or yuck your yum. What I am addressing is those who either don’t celebrate the holidays, have memories that make this time of year challenging due to loss, abuse, and the like, and everyone who has challenges coping with the holiday season.
You are not alone. Lots of us find this time of year challenging for many different reasons. And that’s okay, too. More than okay, frankly.
I was once tortured by Christmas music
At the end of November 1999, I got hit by a car while crossing a street. FYI, pedestrian vs car tends to favor the car. I was hospitalized for several weeks, had a couple of surgeries, and then got moved to a rehab facility. When I got there, my room was just off the nurse’s station.
They had a radio at the nurse’s station. And it only got one channel. No, I don’t recall what channel that was, but I do recall that all they played, 24/7, was Christmas music. Endless Christmas music. All the classics and lots of modern pop artists and their take on the classics.
I was in rehab for about 3 weeks. The music didn’t change until just after New Year’s Eve. Of course, I got to go home just after the new year began.
For years after this, I could not voluntarily listen to Christmas music without starting to twitch. This would become increasingly challenging as I worked in retail and my boss insisted on playing holiday music (but at least I was able to choose either instrumental or choral stuff that made me twitch less). Christmas music brought back memories of being stuck in a wheelchair, fighting pain, having an arm that wouldn’t fully work, and the challenges of the rehab experience.
Today, 26 years later, I no longer get twitchy when bombarded with Christmas music. But it doesn’t bring me joy at all, and I am thrilled when it peters out in early January. But the increasing Christmas in July bullshit can stop gaining traction at any time now! Can we please have at least eleven months before we start this insanity?
I know I’m not alone in this.
Your challenges are valid
I know many people who have lost loved ones with whom they used to celebrate the holidays. For them, this season is fraught with challenges. The memories can make them sad, kill their joy, and the constant bombardment of ads, music, and often false spirit can be much.
Still others do not celebrate Christmas. Muslims, atheists, Jews? They do not celebrate Christmas. My family is Jewish. It wasn’t until I moved from very Lutheran Minnesota to the East Coast that I found Hanukkah-themed items in grocery stores and the like. (Granted, Hanukkah is not, as some think, Jewish Christmas. It’s not even all that major a holiday in Judaism. But that’s another topic.)
The point is, your challenges are valid. The inundation of all things Christmas during this season can be a bit much and can cause upset and depression.
However, some people just cannot understand this. The lights, the festivities, the color, the cookies, the celebrations? How does that not inspire you be joyful? One Size Fits All NEVER fits all. That’s the answer.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges is not harshing the mellow or yucking the yum for those who love this time of year. However, it seems rather unfair that those who don’t enjoy this time of year have to keep that under wraps.
What can we do?
Recognize and acknowledge the challenges of this season
If you’re one of the people who likes or loves this season, more power to you. Please, however, recognize and acknowledge that not everyone feels that way. And for everyone who gets bent out of shape over saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” be mindful that not everyone celebrates Christmas (and the echo chamber has floor covered in bullshit).
I’m not asking anyone to tone it down or do less, per se. I’m simply asking for better situational awareness. Recognize that this time of year presents challenges for some. Then, don’t ignore that, please acknowledge it, and be cognizant when out and about and among friends and those you care for.
For those who deal with the challenges of this time of year, know that you’re not alone. Give yourself grace and recognize and acknowledge that it’s okay to not be okay. You are very much not alone in finding the holiday season overwhelming. Find people with whom you can share this, and work with one another to center, balance, and act in your best interest to handle the madness.
When you can, take two minutes to just breathe deeply. Set a timer. Take two minutes alone somewhere to breathe in deeply, then let it out, and repeat. This can have a calming effect, slow the heart, and bring you into the here and now. That makes you mindful, and mindfulness lets you take the wheel and know and alter your thoughts, feelings, intentions, approach, and actions.
The challenges of this season don’t make you an outcast, a bad person, or otherwise undesirable. Nothing is for everyone, and that’s okay. You’re not alone. And it will soon pass as we start the new year.
Do you see that you’re not alone if you face challenges with this season?
This is the seventh-hundred-thirty-first (731) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in the world and empower as many people as possible with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to repost and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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