It’s sad that many of us associate Christmas with stress rather than happiness. This can be because we are not with the people we want to be with. It can be because we are with people we don’t want to be with. It can be because we feel there is too much to do, or not enough money to do what we want.
Quite a few years ago I decided I would answer the question - have you had a nice Christmas? - truthfully. Instead of saying something non-commital, I told people the truth - I'm not a fan of Christmas and I find it stressful. I was amazed at the number of people who looked totally relieved and said something like "I feel like that it - it's wonderful to find someone who also feels like that." Now things are more in the open, but still many of us feel the pressure to enjoy it.
If you flinch at any mention of Christmas prior to mid December, my defence is that I write a monthly column for my local newspaper and they've asked me to write about Christmas and stress for the December edition (out next week).
