Tag: redefine Christmas

Redefine Christmas

Simple Ways To Redefine Christmas This Year

Last Christmas

What did you do last Christmas? Were you snowed in and had to spend the holiday locked indoors? Did someone break up with you and you spent the holiday depressed? Were you too broke to fly home for Christmas? Did you feel like you could have done more volunteering work? Well, that was last year and you can start planning how to spend Christmas this year now. Here are a few ways you can redefine your holiday and feel better about it come next year.

Next Christmas

1. Set A Budget – You need to start creating a budget early enough. If you are planning to travel home, buy gifts for the less needy, buy gifts for your loved ones or do anything else that costs money, you need to know beforehand how much you will spend. That way, you can start saving early enough in preparation for the big holiday. No matter how skint you are, get a jar or a tub, put a few coins or notes in it and don’t spend them. Next pay day, add a few more.

2. Release Your Expectations And Keep Things Simple – If you don’t want to feel disappointed this holiday season, don’t overschedule. Yes, there may be so much to do and you may feel that if you don’t achieve it, you will end up overwhelmed and depressed. However, if you release some of your expectations, you will feel better. Simplify. You don’t have to do what others do. Be open to change and you can adapt to whatever the season brings you.

3. Create New Traditions – If all the past holidays have been spent aimlessly, try creating a new tradition and find a way to sustain it every year. Traditions will help you feel connected with yourself and you will feel comfortable and enjoy a sense of certainty. If you recently had a child, you can start a new tradition with your new family. If your parents recently passed, you can start a tradition of meeting your siblings every Christmas to remember your deceased loved ones. As you get older, help the younger ones make their own Christmas traditions. A tradition can be anything, as long as it makes you feel connected and not alone during the holiday season.

4. Try Volunteering Or Helping The Needy – The Christmas holiday is the best time to start giving back to the less fortunate. Of course, some soup kitchens are overflowing with volunteers but if you plan early enough, you will be lucky enough to find somewhere to volunteer. On the other hand, you can bring gifts to a children’s home or any other group home where it will be appreciated. You will feel better for doing it and bring some cheer to anyone who receives your gifts.

5. Start Organizing Early – Don’t wait until the last minute to start doing anything during the holiday season. Are you planning to give to the less fortunate? Start planning early enough for what to buy and the date to hand out your gifts. Are you traveling home to meet your parents? Make sure you have bought the tickets early enough. If you are planning to spend the holiday indoors, have everything you need ready in hand to avoid any last minute hassles.

With these tips, you can turn around your Christmas holiday celebration immediately and redefine Christmas to something that will make YOU feel happy!

Awesome Practical Inspiration Now Christmas Is Over

Excellent Practical Ways To Actually Recover Quickly From Christmas

Christmas is over, gone, past, finished and done with – for this year! But what about NEXT Christmas? Did this Christmas go with a bang for you? Was it the best ever? Could it have been better?

I am not talking about your personal world because things can happen that we can do nothing about, that we can’t plan for and heartbreak can happen at any time. But if your Christmas plans did not work out, if your home looks like a garbage tip, if you were stressed out to the max, along with your credit cards and you are not looking forward to a long January with very little in the bank and big bills waiting to be paid then let’s look and see whether we can do something NOW to make sure NEXT Christmas goes more like the way you would like it to.

Easily Work Out What Went Wrong For You

Holiday depression and post holiday depression are very common, especially during and after Christmas. There can be many triggers; loneliness, family rows, the time of the year (the cold and dark), feelings of alienation from what is going on, etc. If you feel depressed – whether post Christmas or just generally depressed – please seek medical advice. There are many ways these days of helping people with depression and you shouldn’t just get told to “pull yourself together”! Please seek help now.

Totally separate from health concerns, there are many common themes to post-Christmas upsets, rows and annoyance over what did or did not happen. While it may not be possible to change what has happened, it is certainly possible to start planning now, so that next Christmas will be better. Ignoring it means setting yourself up for a repeat of what you did not enjoy this time round. If you want next Christmas to be better, start planning now, to ensure a better Christmas for you and your family and friends.

Overspent

Overspending at Christmas is a common complaint AFTER the event. If you have overspent, then you need to get your finances back into good order and THEN start planning for next Chrsitmas

Not enough Money

The old saying is that “you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear”, that is, you must make do with what you have. That’s old advice but still sound. When our finances dipped, I told my kids NOT to buy me a Christmas present, after all, I actually had everything I needed and I definitely didn’t need something to clutter me up further! I also told them that I would spend less on them at Christmas, to account for getting no present from them 🙂 and also told them I would spend more on them on their birthday, which helped spread the financial load. I also told them that there was a financial limit and that they could have their present in cash if they preferred. They did! I also set a limit on what I would spend on the grandchildren, so they all had the same.

Planning Disaster

There are lots of areas that can be planned and prepared well ahead of time and with a good calendar and perhaps a journal or diary, it’s possible to have a stress free Christmas if you want it, with no planning disasters. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee no natural disasters but you cannot do much about those.

Not Ready In Time

Christmas comes on the same day each year – surprise, surprise, so a countdown can help get everything planned and managed in good time.

Home looks Like Disaster Zone

After Christmas, it can take some time to take down the decorations and the house may look bare without the tree and the lights but a bit done each day soon gets it completed. Packing everything away carefully will make next Christmas a lot easier.

Family and friend Rows

Unfortunately, holidays at all times can be marred by family rows, especially if fuelled with alcohol. If you find Christmas spoilt for you EVERY year, maybe it is time to consider NOT inviting the offending family member?

Important Revealed Here – How To Have An Awesome NEXT Christmas

Next Christmas starts here. I will be sharing storage, clearing and planning tips with you to help make next Christmas even better.