Yes, I really do love holidays - every single one of them - and we celebrate them all! If you think I am kidding you should see the groundhog shaped cake and hear the Bill Murray movie of the same name playing in the background every February! Every single month offers us all something to enjoy: from New Year’s Day on January 1st to New Year’s Eve on December 31st there is something every single month!
This is a long two-part post that I hope helps you enjoy each holiday and the holiday season this year and all the years to come. Part one of this post is the ‘happy-part’ and part two is the ‘how-to-be-happy-part.’
Part I: The Happy Part
We’ve always found it pretty easy to be happy during holidays. If fact, we’re the family that longs for a reason to celebrate and the neighbors who put up our decorations early and leave them up long after the holiday has ended. There’s a storage box in my garage for every holiday! These are my ideas on how you can make your holiday(s) as happy as mine:
Be present to all that is happening. Be aware of the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. Is there anything more wonderful than the fragrance of a glorious Christmas tree? Or a July 4th bar-be-cue? Nope!
Turn off your phone, tablet, ipad, tv, etc. and spend real time with real people.
Eat and drink to a contented place - not too much and not too little.
Spend good time with the people you love doing simple fun things. Make homemade decorations, cook meals together, play games, go for a walk together, finish a puzzle, eat meals with the tv off, take an old-fashioned leisurely Sunday drive, watch a movie and eat popcorn, etc.
Watch my favorite movies all year long: The Holiday, Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, A Christmas Story, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, A Charlie Brown Christmas, White Christmas, Four Christmases, Elf, Holiday Inn, The Santa Claus, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and absolutely anything on Hallmark!!
Volunteer: visit someone in a nursing home; deliver meals to shut-ins; donate stuff; knit a blanket for a shelter; make homemade cards for soldiers or kids in hospitals; cook a meal for a single neighbor; adopt a family for Christmas; and so much more!
At work you can: decorate your office, wear a costume on Halloween, handout Valentine’s like you did in elementary school, wear red, white, and blue on American holidays, bring in a cake on your birthday, hide Easter eggs, etc.
During longer holidays you can stay up late and sleep in the next day remembering how excited you were as a kid by every holiday!
I had a fabulous, simple, childhood and never knew we were poor until I was much older. Honestly, I do not know how my parents created holidays as a garage mechanic and a stay-at-home mom, parents to four children. But somehow they did it in the simplest ways possible by making every holiday an event that included, church, homemade meals, and uncomplicated gifts. Each holiday was effortless and filled with comforting joy. That is the same tradition we try to impart to our family today by making each holiday something to look forward to!
Think of the many simple (and free) things you can do for any holiday to make it stress-less and simply more enjoyable.
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