No, really it does. Stress, money, logistics of family and friend visits. It can really stress a guy out. And ooohhhh, does it stress me out. I mean, what doesn't stress me out? How many times can my mother call before she is going to realize that no, I don't have any ideas this year. And I apologize to my wife who The wife's job situation doesn't help, but she is doing everything she can to find one and I'm proud of the way she is handling it. But overall we are scaling back, which is a good thing.
There are the friendships. The holidays are a time when some friendships are up for annual review. There are many people in our lives that move on, move out or simply drift away. Every year at the holidays there is that one relationship. The one that you have held dear for a long time, that for reasons we can all relate to, is suddenly reevaluated. We take pause and think about the past and potential future, making major decisions without pause and maybe take steps to renew and reconnect. Or another name is added to the Christmas card list that will be thought of briefly as a short message of good hope and cheer is written early the next winter.
It sounds cliche to complain about the commercialization of the holidays, but it's really true for me this year. I look forward to gifts I will inevitably get, and to the smiles that what we can give will hopefully bring. But more than that this year, I look forward to family and the smiles of my children. I'm sure it is due in no small part to our financial position, but whatever the reason I see it as a blessing. And we can all use a few more of those right now.
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