Singles and Christmas

[NotUrAvgGuy]

My pastor gave a sermon on Sunday (taking a break from 1 Corinthians) about getting so busy this time of year that we miss out on Christ in Christmas. He used the story of Mary and Martha to illustrate. Good stuff but as a mature single it seemed so foreign although it's not just about being single.

I spend most holidays alone and have little or no traditions around holidays. I live alone so I don't bother with a tree or lights. The only presents I am giving are to a needy family and expect none. I could travel to my Mom's for Christmas but this time of year is always rough on my sinuses and sinus infections have ruined more than one Christmas visit. My children, though they live close, are estranged from me due to a mean and vindictive ex-wife.

I grew up in an alcoholic family. We celebrated Christmas but never built traditions around it and holidays in general were tainted by my Mom's drinking. My ex-wife hated holidays and did as little as possible for them.

So holidays mean very little to me. I not only don't celebrate them (except through worship) but it doesn't bother me not to. I don't feel lonely, left out, or sad. Instead I marvel at all the people who are crazy busy this time of year and why they feel like they have to do all that stuff. I think our man made traditions threaten to eclipse Christmas. We overspend when gift giving has nothing to do with Christmas.

Do other mature singles feel like this or am I as unique as I suspect I am?

 

[quatona]

I´ve always loved Christmas Eve for being the only day I could be sure I am left alone.

 

[dayhiker]

I never liked traditions as I'd much rather do what comes to me at the moment.
No lights on a tree for me. I thought about getting some lights up outside, but I didn't get the receptacle installed this fall.
Christmas day I'm going to my son's house with gifts for the grand kids. Don't expect to get any gifts. I'll give my sons a card with a check in it so they can have a little extra spending money.
I guess my gift to myself will be visiting some new friends I've made over the last few months.

 

[Servant68]

I basically grew up in Mayberry with a cop for a dad. My childhood Christmases were pure Norman Rockwell with all of the American traditions.

I loved Christmas and the holidays and I still do. However, as an older bachelor with my kids grown and out of the area, I don't have a Christmas tree. But I still put up lights on my house and tune my truck's radio to Christmas music.

I vividly remember people being nicer and happier during this time of the year. Seems to me that's gone away for the most part the last decade or so in our decreasingly Christian society. Such a shame.

 

[dayhiker]

Turns out I will be getting a gift .. we are having a Yankee Swap. So I'll get something, who knows if it will be anything I want or can use!

I am thinking of offering an hour's cuddle to a lady I have known for a few months now. Her mom passed away yesterday. I was thinking a cuddle would really comfort her.

 

[miss-a]

The trick I find is to make the best of it. I happen to love Christmas lights and put up my fake tree every year even if kitty and I are the only ones who see it. Although, I put it in the window, with 400 lights, to share some cheer with the neighbors. I even put fake presents around it, just so it won't look so bleak.

I expect at least one gift every year, from me. I let myself splurge on something for myself. This year I got a gorgeous room divider. Gorgeous! Most of my friends and I agreed long ago to stop exchanging gifts to take some of the pressure off. I cook for a couple of friends, call some people and wish them a nice Christmas, and give to kid oriented charities. I listen to Christmas music while I drive and enjoy every Christmas light I pass. I think of the Lord and talk to Him often through all of this.

Sometimes I go to a friend's house on Christmas day and sometimes I don't. But either way, I refuse to give in to the gloom that would be easy to fall into. Life here on earth can be hard. The hoopla made of all the things that Christmas is said to be about that it is not about can drag us down. How many times have we heard, "The meaning of Christmas is about family and friends and being with them." The folks who say that mean well, but that is not the meaning of Christmas. The meaning of Christmas is that I, you, all of us, alone or not, are outrageously loved, that life on earth is only a tiny part of our eternal lives, and there is so much more good coming, blessing for us hear on earth as well as beyond it.

So my thing is this. I used to be severely depressed. I'm not anymore, so I refuse to live like a depressed person. Today is Christmas eve. I was going to make pita bread and bring sandwiches to a friend's. The roads are icy, so no driving. Had to cancel. I've worked a super challenging few weeks and was really too tired to bake anyway, so I found one of the best comedy series ever made, streaming free online, The Neighbors (on abc.com, best good clean fun ever. Check it out!) and binge watched it. For hours, under a blanket, with kitty in my lap, hot tea in my mug, my tree lights ablazing. I talked to the Lord, talked to the cat, laughed out loud, and had a great day. I worked out a little, ate good food, and now might go for a Great Christmas Light Fight binge.

The trick is to make the best of it.

 

[NotUrAvgGuy]

I just treat it like any other day. I celebrate the birth of Jesus every day so I don't do anything special on Christmas Day and don't feel left out or depressed.