Holiday Happiness: Overcoming Holiday Depression

The holidays stress people out so much. I suggest you keep it simple and try to have as much fun as you can. ~ Giada De Laurentiis

Each year around this time I start a series of posts that last throughout the holiday season to try to give folks a boost to their happiness.  The holidays for many people are wonderful, for most people are stressful and for some of us damn near unbearable.  And yes, I include myself in that last category.

There are certainly elements of the holidays that I enjoy, I love giving good presents. The kind of presents that make people realize I know them and took the time to really think about them and give them something that is very special to them.  I love Thanksgiving, being out in nature, the cooking, the eating, the football watching.  I’ve never been much of a fan of Christmas or New Years, apart from the gift giving.

I think that there are a combination of things that hit me pretty hard during the holidays.  First, typically being alone and not having immediate community is hard for me during a time of year where everyone makes a huge deal of how wonderful it is to be with the people they love.  And don’t get me wrong, family and friends often invite me into their celebrations and I’ve joined in some.  A friend in Las Vegas does a wonderful open celebration each year at Thanksgiving.  But Christmas is the kicker and there is nothing more awkward than crashing someone else’s Christmas.  New Year’s Eve, amateur night has never been fun for me, too much booze for too many people who don’t drink very often, too often leads to bad situations.  Finally, the shortest days of the year fall all over these holidays as well.  Cold, dark, short days can be real triggers for my mood to tank.

During this time feel free to reach out by comment or e-mail, Happinesskane@aol.com, if you want a little encouragement, an ear or a kind word, I’m happy to be here for you.  So, as part of an attempt to help others cope a little better, and a bit of therapy to try to keep my own mood afloat I’ll be posting out daily from now until January 1st.  Each post will be designed to lift both my mood and yours and help us have happier days my friends.  ~ Rev Kane