Merry little Christmas to you
It鈥檚 no wonder that after Christmas some of us feel tired.
Physically we try to juggle work with increasingly busy social commitments.
We鈥檒l find time to at least hang a couple of mangy decorations to bring joy to our place; and year after year, even though we say 鈥渘ext year, I鈥檒l be prepared and organized,鈥� we still find ourselves fighting through masses of people to do Christmas shopping.
All of this with one budget. The fact that we do manage demonstrates we are amazing.
In Melbourne it鈥檚 said we experience four seasons in one day.
For some of us, Christmas can be like Melbourne鈥檚 weather: we can get so overwhelmed with mixed emotions, we might be laughing and celebrating with friends one minute and the next thing we know we have a tear in our eye and feel sad for no particular reason.
But worse is feeling the need to hide it because being 鈥榟appy, jolly and all Christmassy鈥� is what is expected this time of the year.
Christmas can be the perfect time of year to share with family and friends, but at the same time, don鈥檛 underestimate the amount of stress involved in getting into the 鈥楥hristmas spirit鈥�. If we add to all of that, other big life issues 鈥� deaths, financial struggle, breakups, social isolation 鈥� it鈥檚 not surprising that we can experience some degree of holiday depression.
The first thing to do is to acknowledge it and understand we are human beings after all, it is normal.
Here are some suggestions for the 鈥榮illy season鈥�:
Remember family and friends appreciate you for what you are, not what you can give, so keep it simple 鈥� no need to give more than you can afford.
Try to surround yourself with positive attitudes, people who make you laugh and give you encouragement. If you are far away, there are other ways to engage with your support people and friends such as online or by telephone.
Get out and about. Melbourne has lots of activities to offer and many of them are free of charge, check www.thatsmelbourne.com.au for suggestions. There are also many organised social groups who offer interesting alternatives.
Search online to find organisations that might be desperately looking for help. Volunteering is a great way of meeting like-minded people and to feel better about yourself.
Enjoy the excitement and energy of the holidays, and in the true spirit of the season, be aware and inclusive of the ones around you that might be going through rough times.
Take care of each other and have yourself a merry little Christmas.
By CARLOS SEPULVEDA
