What if Christmas makes you want to hide in a quiet corner?

How do you deal with the festive season if you don’t celebrate Christmas or if Christmas is a difficult time?

It might be that you celebrate another winter festival such as Bodhi or Hanukkah. Or Christmas is associated with bad memories or grief for you. Or you might just not like Christmas for your own reasons. For me, I’m not religious, I’m not really in to shopping and I don’t have children so Christmas doesn’t mean anything particularly significant for me which means I often try to avoid some of the festivities.

If you’re the same and find that all the “Ho Ho Ho” gets too much or you feel forced in to living the “Season to be Jolly”, what do you do to avoid being seen as “Bah Humbug” all round?

My advice is to start with some give and take - join in with some events and then give your excuses for others. You won’t find it quite so difficult to be festive if you know there’s only a few occasions and others should appreciate your efforts.

You could also volunteer to spend the time differently - does your organisation need people to work the unpopular shifts. Or, maybe volunteer for a charity somewhere?

Next, find another reason to celebrate and keep that in mind. For example, our dog is a rescue with an unknown background and her birthday is probably somewhere between October and January so we’ve nominated 25th December as her actual birthday and this helps me!

It is also useful to apply a little mindfulness over the season to find the good in amongst any bling, noise, pressure and distractions. For example, enjoying any good weather by getting outdoors, appreciating artistic festive light displays, taking time to admire the skill in hand made gifts, and more.

Finally, remember that we all have different experiences and approaches to Christmas with anything from a frenzied round of cooking, shopping, parties and nativity plays to a quiet time with close friends only or, perhaps, a big family gathering. And, despite the very loud social pressure out there, there is no “right” way or “must have’s” at all.

So, however you choose to spend this festive season will be the right choice for you and is OK. Enjoy!