Sometimes Christmas Can Be Too Much
I suppose it’s all the three wise men’s fault. I mean giving those expensive presents and all that. That’s where it all started. Now look where we’ve ended up!
Christmas started for me in September when I went into my local supermarket and saw Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas chocolates.
Every year without fail we are expected to put reason to one side and ‘go mad’ eating, drinking and spending. On the one hand we are encouraged to do that to aid the economy, and on the other hand we are admonished in the New Year for doing our patriotic duty and are called feckless and irresponsible.
You just can’t please some people. But all this Christmas malarkey has got out of hand. The mental distress this season causes is 
shocking. But we are all expected to conform and smile and we do! We will be asked after Christmas, “Did you have a good Christmas?”, and we will all answer, “Yes, did you?” Both of us thinking; ‘Thank God it’s over”. Terrible isn’t it really.
We have created a monster that is now out of control. We feel compelled to take part despite our misgivings. If we attend a Church service on Christmas Eve we feel ‘Christmassy’. There is that warm glow one gets from singing the carols and belting out ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ once a year.
Somewhere in us we yearn for simplicity at Christmas, to strip away the vast majority of the commercialisation. But we can’t. This can, and does, produce stress. We feel there is no escape from the intense pressure to give, and spend money we don’t have on presents people don’t want. We have our relatives over that we haven’t seen for months and are expected to get on with them despite their annoying idiosyncrasies.
You won’t please all of the people all of the time, so don’t try. Believe me when I tell you people, especially in-laws, will always find something to moan about and if they can’t they’ll just make it up. There’s no use having a row about it. Lower your expectations, and keep it simple. Reducing the amount you drink will also help.
How you deal with Christmas is up to you. It’s very difficult to do your own thing but you can make a little difference to your own well-being. What little difference you choose is up to you. Just do it for yourself and reduce your own stress levels just a tad this year. You know it makes sense.
Tags: Christmas, Financial, Money, relationships