Dear Friends
Here we all are looking forward to Christmas and the season of joy and good cheer, right? The winter holiday time when we all let our hair down or go off on exotic journeys, right? The time when we look forward with optimistic hopes of the New Year, right?
While the answers to these questions are “yes” for many of us, it is not true for everyone. Many people experience seasonal “blues” at this time of year. The season from Advent, through Christmas to the New Year is a time full of parties and family gatherings, but for some of us it is also a time of self evaluation, loneliness, reflection on past “failures” and anxiety about the future and a reminder of bereavement, whether recent or further in the past.
According to Mental Health Charities “Christmas Blues” can be caused by many factors such as increased stress and fatigue, unrealistic expectations, over commercialization, memories of deaths, recollections of unpleasant family interactions or the inability to be with ones family. The increased demands of shopping, parties, family reunions, and house guests can contribute to the tension many feel at this time of year.
So here are a few of my tips on how to cope with “Christmas Blues” if it applies to you.
1) Keep expectations for the Christmas season at a manageable level, something you can cope with not what others think it should be.
2) Remember that the season of “goodwill” does not automatically banish reasons for sadness or loneliness. There is room for these feelings to be present alongside all the joyfulness.
3) Let go of the past! Don’t feel that this Christmas has to be just like the “good old days”. Look toward the future.
4) Do something for someone else. Helping others often helps you as well.
5) Focus on the religious significance of this holiday time. Christmas celebrates the coming of Jesus among us, not Santa Claus. The New Year reminds of the Christian belief in forgiveness and offers hope to us all that we can change our lives for the better.
6) Lastly, find time for yourself. It is NOT selfish to do so!!
I hope any who struggle at this time of year will take heart and try out a few of the above. I have separately written in the magazine about a new service we are holding on Wednesday the 23rd December at 7.30pm for all who find Christmas time difficult or overwhelming so do read that article and come and join us.
We are once more collecting Christmas presents for our friends in the parish of Christchurch North Brixton so if you feel like giving someone who may be much worse off than yourself a surprise present please get something nice, wrap it up and put on the outside whether it is for a male or female, adult or child,(if for a child roughly what age), and pop it into the church or to the vicarage.
We look forward to seeing you over Christmas and the New Year at our services at St John the Baptist. Dorothy and I would like to wish you all a Happy, Peaceful and Christ filled Christmas and a New Year full of promise and contentment. God bless you and all those you love,
John Baxter