How many of us remember taking Sunday drives with the family around the neighborhoods and down Main Street to see all the festive holiday lights? We would look forward to the reliable homeowners that we could count on every year with their home and yard holiday decorations. It was a special time with family driving around and listening to holiday music with excitement in the air.
So how can we bring back those nostalgic feelings of Christmas especially during this unusual year of 2020? One common thing we can all mostly agree on is that Christmas can’t come soon enough and decorating and preparing for the holidays might be just the solution to bring comfort and relief into our lives.
2020 has been rough and unpredictable for all of us and decorating your home or office can add a warm and inviting atmosphere to your holidays. While shopping in a popular home décor store the other day, I overhead a few ladies mentioning that they were ready to decorate for Christmas and start the holiday early (it was November 4th). People are ready for a change and need a positive and healthy distraction from the pandemic and the politics. This exciting and festive time of year is something that both the young and the old look forward to and could cheer up some worried and worn out hearts and minds.
The key to creating a memorable holiday for your loved ones lies within your organization of the events and tasks leading up to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Thinking about all of the little things that must be done such as the shopping, the decorating, mailing the Christmas cards, planning the meals, and making travel plans to see family can wear you right out!
Planning and starting early with all of your holiday to do’s can help alleviate the strain and worry and can make the holidays much more enjoyable for you. Instead of running a list over and over in your mind, you can relax knowing you are on task with your holiday goals and you can enjoy each day leading up to the holidays with your loved ones even more. If you do install Christmas lights on your house, consider having a professional company install those for you. Most companies will install, maintain, remove and store your lights for you which will add a warm feel to your holidays as well as keep you off of your roof!
One tried and proven technique for alleviating feelings of worry, anxiety, and depression is to think of others. When our lives are in order, we are more likely to develop eyes that see opportunity. The months and weeks leading up to Christmas are the ideal time to forget ourselves and connect with others.
We tend to be more warm and friendly and look for opportunities to reach out and show kindness to those around us. We exercise a bit more patience in the checkout line at the grocery store and we donate to charitable causes. We shoveled the neighbor’s driveway and dropped off baked goods. If our minds are caught up in all the things we have to do to prepare for the holidays we won’t have time to “see” what is going on around us.
Now is the perfect time to begin your holiday planning and to start enjoying the days leading up to “the most wonderful time of the year”. Check out this YouTube video for ideas on how to prepare early for the holidays! Let’s face it, we can all add some holiday cheer into our lives this year. Let’s check off those holiday items now and look for ways that we can help brighten the holidays for others!
