When Xmas isn't your thing

It’s a bit of a cliche in pop culture that someone who isn’t into xmas is being a grinch and actively wants to ruin things for everyone else. Usually in tv and films, the person who wasn’t into it at the start will have a revelation (which may or may not be induced by meddling ghosts) and by the end of the story will be Xmas’s biggest fan. Hurray!

Over here in the real world there are lots of different reasons why someone might not be feeling it and not want to join in.

Xmas can bring back bad memories for some people. Maybe they’ve lost someone important this year. Or maybe their relationship with xmas has changed and it’s just not for them.

If you’re one of these people, this time of year can be pretty frustrating.

Even thought xmas isn’t for us, we can’t change the fact that xmas is happening all around us. It will be dominating tv and radio. Chances are we’re likely to be off work for at least a couple of days, so don’t have the distraction of that routine. Our friends might have plans with their own families and not able to hang out (at least not in a “non xmas” capacity).

Make peace with the fact that xmas is happening. We can choose not to have anything to do with it, and that’s okay.

So what can we do as an alternative?It’s still early days here in the UK for this sort of thing, but you might find that a local cinema is open and not showing xmas movies. (You can check the Odeon website here).

Weather permitting, if you can get out into the local countryside, a good walk in the fresh air is almost guaranteed to be peaceful with so many other people indoors.

The bottom line is treat xmas day as a free day off and do whatever feels right for you. Whatever you like.  That could be watching horror movies, playing video games, reading a good book that you’ve been saving. It’s all fair game

Look out for your mental health & check in with yourself. Spending time alone is fine, but human beings are social animals and isolation isn’t good for us long term. Use the days off as an opportunity to be kind to yourself and recharge however you like, however you need to.

If you’re having problems with your mental health, get in touch to talk about how counselling can help you move forward. You can drop me a message via the website or contact me directly at mckellarCBT@gmail.com.