Contentment at Christmas
A season meant to bring peace can often feel like chaos. There are parties to attend, gifts to purchase, decorations to dawn, sweets to bake, and traditions to maintain. Like black ice, the season’s emotions can be deceptively slippery. You start an activity thinking it will smoothly trail to joy and instead slip into overwhelm.
But Christmas really should bring peace.
Sometimes well-meaning people remind us of the meaning of Christmas and then proceed to encourage us to attend another event, be more creative in our gift giving, and watch the latest film in theaters. Don’t buy into the lie that you can have it all and feel content inside. I’m not a grinch. Part of the holiday fun involves attending parties and buying gifts, but if your mindset is to just get through the holidays, don’t fool yourself by thinking you can do it all and feel content inside. Maybe to have the most peaceful Christmas you have to choose.
Choose the life-giving moments this Christmas. Be on your way to a sense of contentment at Christmas. Here are some ways you can maintain life-giving moments of peace this Christmas season:
Regularly Remind Yourself of the Meaning of Christmas
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The Son of God came to earth to save people from their sins. “‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:10-11). A Prince of Peace came into our chaotic world.
Regularly remind yourself of the first Christmas during the Christmases you live. Read a Christmas devotional, attend a Christmas service, and sing Christmas hymns. The truth of the Christmas story will bring peace to your soul.
If you’re not sure what you believe about Christmas and Jesus, that’s okay. I would encourage you to still try reading a Christmas devotional, like Come Let Us Adore Him by Paul David Tripp.
Participate, Don’t Perform (unless you’re in a play)
Being someone else in a play is fun. Being someone else in everyday life is draining. The holidays tend to bring additional opportunities to perform instead of participate.
Are you trying to play the person you think others want to see when you host friends in your home, bake cookies for your son’s class, and attend a spouse’s holiday work party? Or, are you bringing your authentic self to each space?
This doesn’t mean getting a pass to be inconsiderate to people. It means choosing to not pick up unnecessary energy. For example, if you’re not into baking, don’t bake 6 different cookies trying to find the best one to take to the cookie exchange to impress your pals. Bake the easy, tried and true recipe you enjoy and call it a night. The more we perform instead of participate in festivities, the more anxious and overwhelmed we are likely to feel.
Gift Giving: It Truly is the Thought that Counts
Gifts are an integral part of Christmas. Giving gifts was part of the first Christmas story. The act should remind us of the best gift, Jesus, and it should be a way to show love to loved ones. The thought behind the gifts should prompt perspective taking and joy, not prolonged stress.
However, in consumer cultures, the accumulation of stuff can overshadow the peace of the season. In the U.S., for example, the nation has 3.1% of the world’s children but consumes 40% of the world’s toys (more consumer culture stats). Keep giving gifts, but don’t let stuff or impressing others be the most important part of the season.
Tips to make the most of gift giving:
Buy gifts for loved ones throughout the year.
Set budgets for gift giving.
If you enjoy crafting, make homemade gifts throughout the year.
Give experiences.
Focus on meaning. Is there a way to make the gift personal?
Don’t overthink it. It truly is the thought that counts
Keeping Tradition Alive or Just Keeping Busy?
Traditions are good. They can build community, preserve history or culture, and connect to meaning. If you don’t have any holiday traditions with loved ones, consider adding some to your routine to connect and center you. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if your calendar is bursting with traditions, they can feel overwhelming. Take inventory of your calendar and choose the traditions that provide the most meaning and strike the ones that you’ve outgrown or find distracting.
Either way, focus on a few meaningful traditions that add joy and peace and connect you with Jesus and loved ones. If the number of traditions becomes a distraction, they’re no longer providing peace.
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