The Holiday Season

With the holidays coming up I wanted to use this post to focus on some problems many people face during this time.

First of all, many people suffer during this time of year, some have lost family, some have addictions that make this time of year a mental struggle, and some may have to deal with persecution since they don’t celebrate the same holiday as everyone else. We need to be compassionate towards others so we don’t make this time of year hard on others.

Loneliness is a huge problem in the world, the health risks from loneliness are comparable to the risk factors caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and the risks are worse than obesity and physical inactivity. Contrary to popular belief, not only the elderly suffer from this, loneliness can hit anyone at any age.

There are many people out there who struggle with food or alcohol addictions and this time of year can be really stressful on them as they are inundated with large amounts of food and drink. Also, there are many people who feel offended that you don’t eat or drink with them which compounds the stress even more. If you don’t have an addiction then I am truly happy for you but keep in mind that one slip-up can ruin a month of hard work to those of us who do have addictions.

There are also some people who don’t celebrate Christmas and yet are expected to be involved in Christmas parties at work, school events, programs, and are also expected to reciprocate merry Christmas when someone says it to them.

I’m not asking anyone to deny their personal convictions to celebrate the way they want or say what they want, I am asking that we all be more aware of other people’s differences and their sufferings during this time of year.