Does the prospect of Christmas fill you with dread?

If Christmas fills you with dread rather than excitement, you won’t be alone, although it could feel that way. It may be that at every other time of the year you are confident, happy and have plenty of friends and acquaintances with whom to spend time, but once it gets to December 25th, it’s different. Perhaps you are part of a couple who argue about whose family to spend time with, or maybe you feel duty bound to visit relatives you don’t much like or who don’t appear to care much for you!
If you are ‘running’ Christmas it can be emotionally as well as physically exhausting. Too often there is self imposed pressure to make everyone’s Christmas perfect and to ensure that each person, young and old, has their own ideal day. This is not only unrealistic, it is a guaranteed way to set yourself up for disappointment or distress; it’s impossible to please all the people all the time! We often tell ourselves that we have to make sure that everyone is happy and that we mustn’t let anyone down, but what about you? Who is looking after you and making you happy?
Christmas shouldn’t be about duty or spending time with people you don’t like or don’t get on with. It’s far more important to spend time with people you care about and if you can’t do that, why not consider doing something different. If you don’t fancy Christmas alone, you could book a holiday or volunteer somewhere; charities often need extra help at Christmas and you might get a warm glow from helping someone else. Not everyone has a Christmas filled with love and laughter, surrounded by people who are easy to please or be around. So why not put yourself and your mental health first this year and take the low stress option; give yourself permission to make this year different.