Christmas Letdown?

Well, it’s over. Another Christmas is history. Your floor may still be littered with wrapping paper, boxes and lost toy parts and your fridge filled with Christmas dinner leftovers. Hopefully your day was filled with love and joy and created many happy memories to carry through the years.

But now it’s over…

On this day after Christmas, how do you feel?

Are you basking in the afterglow of a wonderful day? Are you resting up from a busy, fun-filled time with family and friends?

Or are you feeling let down?

Perhaps Christmas this year wasn’t what you hoped it would be. Maybe the kids have long abandoned that new toy they had to have, or the fancy new electronic gadget is already broken. Are you looking around at your house and wondering if you’ll ever get it clean?  Maybe you worked so hard to make it a perfect day that you didn’t enjoy the time you had. Or maybe it was such a wonderful day that you’re just disappointed that it’s over.

It’s very common to get through a highly anticipated event and then have a sense of let down. Whether it’s Christmas, a wedding, or some other special event the days following can often be difficult. We’ve spent weeks or months planning and picturing the events of the day and now we’re left with only memories. Sometimes we’re not sure what to do. Now that the magic of Christmas is through it’s easy to look ahead and see only the cold and dreary winter months in our future.

This year let’s try something different!

Let’s look ahead towards how we can carry Christmas with us throughout the coming year. Take a few minutes in the coming days to think about what kinds of things you and your family can do to bring the spirit of Christmas to others each month. Then make a plan:

1. Make a list of things you do for others at Christmas. Maybe add things you wanted to do this year but had to cut out due to lack of time or funds. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Bake cookies for your neighbors and co-workers.
• Donate food to your local food pantry (they need food all year-long).
• Buy a toy for the toy drive (perhaps a local day care center or church nursery could use a new toy?).
• Instead of Christmas cards, send a card to family members or friends “just because”.
• Visit a shut-in or nursing home.

2. Now take one item off the list and “assign” it to a month throughout the coming year. You can do the same thing more than one month! Get out your 2012 calendar and actually mark one day as “Christmas” that month. Plan for it and build excitement for the day in your family.

3. Share your ideas with us here so we can expand our own lists.

By looking ahead we can help ease our feelings of let down after the “big day”. Planning activities that bring joy to others can help keep excitement going through each month of the coming year for you and your family.

Let’s work together to make the whole year ahead exciting and carry the spirit of Christmas throughout the coming year!

Blessings and peace to you!

Paula