The Joys and Sorrows of the Festive Season

It is the time of the year when everyone is gearing up to celebrate the festive season. Some have planned and booked their flights for New Year’s celebration in cities where festivities are the brightest, some have planned smaller parties in town, others planned dinner gatherings and gift exchanging, and there are some who have no plans and may be even spending that time of the year alone.

 

The holiday season poses some kind of a challenge: we have to feel happy or at least appear happy to those around us. We feel guilty if it coincides that we feel a little blue when everyone around us is in upbeat festivities, we don’t want to be the Grinch at a time when the customary is to celebrate.

 

We enter the festive season with pressure of being jolly, forgetting that we are merely human and that sometimes, despite the surrounding ambiance, our mind can be in a state of its own. And so, it is in that time of the year that we need to remind ourselves and our loved ones, that it is alright if we are not very merry, and that we are allowed to spend that time of the year curled up under a blanket, just like any ordinary day.

 

We should remind ourselves, and our loved ones, that there is no shame in trying our best to be a cheer for those around us and failing; that we might not be the only ones in low spirit, and it is only that we just don’t say it out loud. 

 

We should be kind and empathetic enough to be around those who feel down and alone at this time of the year, but also smart enough to let them be and not to pressure them to pull a happy face when they don’t have it in them.

 

When the holidays pass, life gets back to normal, when we are normal ordinary humans of highs and lows, joys and sorrows. So, in the festive season, let us remind ourselves that we allow ourselves to feel our feelings, with no shame or self-loathing, to feel happy only if we can, and embrace our sorrows, knowing that they are temporary, just like other emotions. We need to remind ourselves that happiness is not bound to a specific time, and that happiness will still knock on our doors regardless of the occasion.