Many people love the holiday season, and they think about all year round. But this is not true for everyone. For some, the holiday season is not a happy one for a variety of reasons. So, today we would like to offer some tips for staying positive during this holiday season even if this is not your favourite time of the year.

Gratitude

Now is a great time to start keeping a gratitude journal. A notebook or a simple pad of paper will do. Try to write down something, just one, that you feel grateful for every morning. Make it a daily practice with your morning coffee or tea. Anything that you feel grateful for is good enough. For one person it may be his or her children or his or her pet, and someone else may feel grateful for a special bird he or she saw at a bird feeder or a book they just read.

Keeping a gratitude journal helps us to form a mindset to be thankful for what we have and experience every day, no matter what it is.

Christmas Fun

Even if you feel like a grinch, surely you can find something to laugh about. Look for things that are amusing, like bad television commercials or someone’s not-so-great attempt at Christmas lights on their house. Not everyone will share in your glee, but that does not matter. Enjoy your little personal amusement, and make the most of the holiday season anyway. The holidays will come and go whether you have some fun or not, so try to find some humour in little things. 

Mindfulness Meditation

Now is good time to start doing some mindfulness meditation that you can practice all year round. Meditation is easy to learn, free, and it will reduce your anxiety and improve your mood. There are books on the subject, and lots of free videos you can watch online that will help you learn it. There are even apps for a smartphone that will walk you through it.

Get Busy

If the holidays are not your thing, then get busy with something else to keep you occupied. Watch a movie, read a book, write your memoirs, go for a walk, practice a musical instrument, do some kind of handicraft or art or learn a new language. We are never too old to learn something new, and keeping busy will keep your mind off of all the holiday reminders around us. The holidays will be over soon enough, so just keep yourself busy enough to occupy yourself right now.

H&H Total Care Services is a privately held company based in Surrey, BC, that is a leader in providing senior and young adult residential care services. With communities in both British Columbia and Alberta, H&H Total Care Services offers a wide range of compassionate care services from independent living to long-term complex care.