The holidays can be hard to get through when you do not have a great relationship with your family, but you have nowhere else to go. So, you may be forced to be around those family members. Holidays are a time when you are supposed to surround yourself with those who care about you and vice versa. I love the holidays, especially Christmas, and I am sure others do too. But, the holidays are not fun and they are hard to continue loving when you may not have many people around you who you care about and love.
Now is the time that I need and you may also need to find other people to spend those holidays with so that the magic of the holidays doesn’t go away. Just because those who you have spent the previous holidays with may make these times seem miserable, that doesn’t mean it needs to stay miserable. Throughout the years and the struggles with your actual family, you may have found family within your friends though. Just because you are biologically related to some people and they may have raised you, that does not mean that you need to continue spending your time around them. If they don’t fill your cup, find people who will.
It’s time to let go of that trauma and continue to love the holidays that you always have. Create new traditions with friends and family who you may still have contact with, and create new traditions with yourself. Or, maybe keep some of the traditions that you love and don’t necessarily want to let go of.
Some of my favorite traditions to do on my own are drinking hot cocoa, and egg nog, watching Harry Potter, and all of my favorite holiday movies, as well as treating myself to something that I have been wanting for a while. Whatever you need to do to stay excited about the holidays. Not everything that I do will work for everyone else. This is all so much easier said than done and the holidays may never be the same. But, change is good, and changing is not a bad thing.
Now, whatever holidays you celebrate, whether is it Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday throughout the year, do what makes you happy, and nothing else. Don’t worry about what other people may think, or what your family will say when you choose not to celebrate with them. It’s time we finally take care of ourselves and do what we need to do to let go of the past and find comfort and happiness within ourselves.