I have to admit that on Christmas I struggle with a sense of loneliness. I miss having family around me and I often feel on the outside of things. To combat that and in the effort to make healthy choices for myself several years ago I began a couple of new traditions.
One of them is I go up to mom and dad's on Christmas Eve and spend the night with them. Before I go to bed, I fill the Christmas stockings with gifts and candy. Early Christmas morning I bring the stockings into mom and dads room and we open the gifts and laugh and just enjoy being with each other. This year Hope Puppy was so thrilled with the new ball that mom got her and she spent the morning dropping her slobbery ball in the middle of our candy and presents. And that just made us laugh harder.
The other tradition I began is to serve at our big community dinner.This year I ran for 5 hours serving meals and just trying to share Christmas cheer to everyone that came. This year it looks like we served over 700 people. It was exhausting, wonderful and so worthwhile.
These new traditions means that instead of being sad on Christmas, I was busy, involved and happy. I think I will keep looking to begin new traditions that will help me focus beyond myself and the losses in my life.
Because I refuse to be defined by the losses .... there is so much more to life than that. And I want so much more than that.
Just Connie
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