And it’s that time of the year again! Everyone seems to be
cloaked in cheery Christmas spirit. Malls, roads, schools, offices, hospitals
and every other place is wrapped in green, red and golden hues. It’s the season
when everything and every person seems to hyper active. Customers at the malls
are over enthusiastic, cafés are overcrowded owing to the holiday season and
even normal conversations at home become over animated. To my dislike, the
‘over’ in all the previous adjectives gets to my nerves. Please do not think of
me as a recluse who feels his peace has been interrupted because of the
festivities. I love the Christmas season! But there are people (for
instance me) who do not find it easy getting along with people.
Nonetheless, everyone has to go somewhere for
Christmas and I go home and deal with all the family drama every year. I love
my family and friends but it can overwhelm you when there is so much going on.
This time around I thought why not fashion a plan to get along well with
friends and family, and surviving the holidays without any major catastrophe?
So here’s the plan. First thing that I intend to do this
year when I go home, is being at my best behavior, being tolerant and
deciphering information that is only positive. Being around people that I love more than anything also means that we know what buttons to push! Consequently, we get snappy sooner than we
would otherwise and pick a fight, just what I’m trying to avoid.
This holiday
season, I will play at my strengths. Who doesn’t like a good (gluten free) cookies in December? Well, I consider myself a pro at that, and if cooking helps
me spend accident and incident free time with everyone, why not just cook and
bake? All I have to do is add water, oil, and 2 eggs!
This time I will participate. Participation helps gain everyone’s
approval and that way everyone would for once be able to believe that I am not
the misanthrope that my friends and family think I am.
Christmas usually is the time for me to catch up on my
favorite TV shows.
How about making a few changes there? This time I’ll watch anything
with Mom, even if it’s "The Newly Wed Show," if that pleases her and
not finding my solace in "The Walking Dead" and Candy Crush. I could also
discuss a little ancient Hebrew with Dad over coffee. Ah! So many ideas.
My idea of
Christmas might be a quiet night, blankets, couch, coffee and my favorite
books, but isn’t Christmas all about spreading happiness? So why aim at
devising a survival strategy only! Let’s just play along with what everyone
else wants to do, and I promise that would make this Christmas the best you’ve
ever had.
