The holidays are meant to be spent with the people you care about most in the world. It’s a time for warmth, introspection, and taking a well-deserved break from the stress of leading a hectic life. Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned. And many people find that once Xmas rolls around, they’re left frustrated and drained.
The r/AskReddit community recently opened up about who ruined their Christmas celebrations and how. We’ve collected some of their most intriguing stories to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to read about just how bad things can get and how lucky most of us are that this hasn’t happened to us.
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Image credits: gneissboulder
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Though the winter holidays can be full of joy, merriment, and happiness, for many folks, stress is an ever-present reality, too.
According to the American Psychological Association, 41% of US adults have revealed that their stress levels increase during the holiday season between November and December. 43% of respondents claim that this stress prevents them from enjoying the holidays to the fullest. Meanwhile, 36% of Americans opened up about how the holidays “feel like a competition.”
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Image credits: UNSC_Spartan122
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A lot of things are outside of our control. Surprise blizzards. Transportation delays. People falling ill. But what we can control is how we react to all of these unfortunate circumstances. We can choose to let them get us stressed, frustrated, and angry beyond belief. Or we can embrace what’s happened and try to look for a silver lining. Or look for some comedy in the situation.
You can still have an enjoyable time even if you’re stuck in a traffic jam or your flight’s been delayed (for the third time that day). You can use the time to meet interesting people, read a good book, catch up on the news, eat some delicious food, or call your loved ones. Xmas is only ever truly ruined if we let it be that way.
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Image credits: coulsonsrobohand
As we’ve covered on Bored Panda very recently, if we see that the current way we’re celebrating Christmas isn’t doing us any good, we need to have the courage to change things.
If you find that your family traditions are stressing you out and that it’s unpleasant to spend time with certain people, we should not feel guilty about switching up the dynamic next year. We are not supposed to feel completely exhausted and angry once we’re done celebrating.
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Image credits: DisengageKL
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What we should do instead is focus on the activities and people that genuinely bring us joy. And it’s never wrong to talk to your family and friends about how you’re going to be doing things differently next time and why.
How did you enjoy the holidays this year, dear Pandas? What kinds of family traditions do you have? Have you ever had a Christmas that got ruined in the past? Did you manage to salvage it in some shape or form back then? Share your experiences and opinions in the comment section below.
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Image credits: MrGrief
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