It's Your Season

The oncoming of the holidays can herald the blues.  The correlation of the music, the festoons, and the overfilling food, that are so present during this point in the year, can make you wish you could avoid them entirely.  These seasonal events may have been associated with happier memories during your childhood years, but the feelings today aren't the same.  We don't always have to feel the same way about certain traditions, but we need to find joy in the way we feel about the season.  We can make our lives our own, no matter what we might think.  To revitalize the way you think about the season is not feeling as if you have to engage in certain holiday traditions or situations that make you feel uneasy and cause you to feel sadness.  It can be very simple for you to get caught up in the web of ritual and lose sight of what you really want or what works for you as a person.  You have to work in the now and realize that there is a payoff for giving to yourself.  If you take care of yourself then your ability to give, if that is part of your holiday or seasonal ritual, will be healthier.  Celebrating for yourself expands your joy and gives you a new reason to love the Autumn and Winter months.

The association of depression and the Autumnal and Winter seasonal holidays are very prevalent.  It can be very difficult to address these emotional difficulties.  If you face these problems and sort of them out, you can give yourself the chance to process what you are going through.  This can liberate you from that weight on your shoulders.  Journaling about your issues can be very therapeutic.  Don't be afraid to be honest about your feelings.  Being honest with your family is another part of the therapeutic process.  Maybe you would rather go on a vacation, rather than dealing with the pressures of your family during the holiday season.  Maybe you would prefer not to give gifts during the holiday season.  Maybe you would like to eat out or make a healthy meal during the holiday season.  Maybe you would like to just take time to watch a movie and spend time just pampering yourself.  Don't be afraid of what everyone else thinks, because you have to make the season your own.  This season prepares you for the rest of the Winter and you need to nurture your inner joy.  It doesn't mean that you have to decorate your home like the Griswold's in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but you can decorate your self-esteem with happiness and pleasure.