Tips for A Joyful Christmas

With only 2 weeks to Christmas I thought I’d share some tips on how to take the stress out of Christmas and make it a joyful day!

Sadly, for many people Christmas and the lead-up to it is a stressful time. Broken and blended families struggle to see how they can have a joyful Christmas and single people feel even more lonely on this family-orientated festive day. Parents can struggle with the present expectations of their children and money can be tight. Here in New Zealand we have the added pressure of summer holidays – so not only are we stressed with Christmas, but we’re also under time pressure to complete work tasks before the summer vacation!

These are my tips to help you minimize your stress and increase your joy levels:

1. Know: To have a joyful Christmas you need to know what will make your Christmas joyful. Who do you want to spend it with? Where do you want to be? What shape and format do you want it to have? When do you want to celebrate it?

2. Communicate: When you know what your ideal Christmas looks like – communicate this to your partner, children, extended family and whoever else is involved. Ask and listen to what their ideal Christmas looks like too. Ask yourself how you can turn everyone’s wish list into reality.

3. Compromise: As a family when you know what everyone is wanting it’s a matter of sitting down and working out a plan that can accommodate the most of what everyone wants – it’s about compromise.

4. Plan: When you know how Christmas day is going to unfold you can plan the finer details of decorations, food and presents. List everything that has to be done, by whom and when, and then start working through the list. There’s still just over 2 weeks to go, so it’s not too late.

5. Budget: There’s no joy in Christmas if you’re stressed out about your finances. Set a budget that’s comfortable and then stick to it – remember it’s not what you give but the “thought that counts”. Personally the most meaningful presents I have ever received have been the home-made ones!

6. Relax & Enjoy: There is a special Christmas spirit so when the day arrives – make a decision to tap into that wonderful Christmas feeling and relax and enjoy the day. We get what we expect – so if you are expecting a happy, fun, relaxing day – then that is exactly what you’ll get!

Lastly for those of us that are Christians – let’s not forget that Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus!
Following Jesus’ example – let’s also look for opportunities to make this Christmas more joyful for someone else because in bringing joy to another we automatically bring joy to ourselves!

If anyone has some extra tips on making Christmas more joyful – I’d love to read about them.