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Tips For Enjoying The Christmas Holidays Alone

Updated on December 15, 2011

Simple, easy decorations can brighten your holidays and lift your spirits!

Title: Christmas ~ License: sxu license ~ Photographer: Celeron: everystockphoto.com
Title: Christmas ~ License: sxu license ~ Photographer: Celeron: everystockphoto.com

Living Alone and Enjoying the Holidays

When you live by yourself, it can be tempting to ignore the holidays or to celebrate entirely outside of your home at public events and the homes of friends and family members; however, you can build your own meaningful holiday traditions on your own, and I encourage you to do so. For me, I find it best not to go for big, extravagant displays. Spending hours on lights, trees, and so forth on your own with no one to appreciate it can end up being very disappointing.

Instead, think of small things you can do in honor of the season every day!

For example, sit down and hand-write a few nice holiday cards every day. Take your time and write a personal message to each recipient.

When you receive holiday cards, decorate your home with them. You could run a pretty ribbon or length of yarn across a window and hang them or just set them around various places in your home to brighten the atmosphere and remind you of the season and of the people you care about.

Burn a candle or simmer a potpourri with a spicy holiday scent. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger and orange all smell wonderful and festive and actually have calming and spirit-lifting qualities.

Put up a small holiday tree if that makes you happy or just cut a few pretty sprigs from a wild evergreen (in your own yard preferably) and put them in a pretty red or green vase in your home. Decorate with ribbons and perhaps some of your holiday cards.

Put a wreath or a decorated evergreen bouquet on your door to remind yourself of the season whenever you come and go.

Buy yourself a poinsettia. If you are poverty stricken, wait until the day after Christmas and rescue a perfectly good one for a pittance to enjoy for the rest of the season and into the spring. If you live in a temperate climate, you can plant it in a sheltered area outside in spring and enjoy it for years to come.

Decorate an outdoor tree or bush with treats for the birds and squirrels. Slices of orange and apple strung on ribbon or twine, suet balls with nuts, and any other treat you can think of that would be pretty will be greatly appreciated by your hungry feathered and furry friends!

Make yourself some spiced apple cider by brewing a pot of hot, spicy tea (Celestial Seasons Bengal Spice is good) then add a can of frozen apple juice. This is an easy way to give yourself a festive treat. Keep it in a pitcher in your fridge so you can pop a cup in the microwave for a quick, healthy pick-me-up. This is very nice to sip on while you are writing your holiday cards.

Collect holiday music and keep it playing quietly in your home throughout the season. You may be surprised to find that dollar stores have some very nice holiday CDs that you can get for a mere dollar! I have a nice collection of traditional and jazz holiday music that I play throughout the holiday season. Most of it came from the dollar stores.

Explore all of the holiday traditions. No matter what your own faith, it is interesting and fun to learn about the traditions of others. Feel free to take what you can use and leave the rest in your celebration of the season.

Attend festive events. Go caroling, attend the worship services of your choice, have and go to pot-lucks and other parties.

Take care of yourself. If you drink, be careful not to do so to excess. Take yourself out for a walk, do some yoga or other quiet exercise, stay active and upbeat. Be sure to get plenty of rest. By creating your own small traditions and honoring your self, you can be your best self to enjoy this festive season.

Copywrite:SuzanneBennett:December10,2009

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