ontheedgeofeverything

It’s known as the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is a time for us to engage in festive celebrations and activities, spend time with friends, family and loves ones, and slow down the chaotic pace of life to take some time to enjoy the holiday season.

Unfortunately, for some of us, Christmas does not symbolize any of these things. The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time of year for folks without loves ones, friends and family, and further, for those of us who are tight financially.

I’ve always struggled with the concept of blowing a shit load of money on Christmas gifts if we aren’t in a secure place financially. It’s almost as though we feel obligated to spend more than we can afford simply because of the notion of Christmas and spectacular gift-giving, and because of this mentality, a lot of us find ourselves seriously stressed and strapped for money this time of year.

Christmas gifts do not have to drain our bank accounts, nor should they. I firmly believe we, collectively as a society, need to emphasize the normalization of spending what we are able to when we do our Christmas shopping, not what we feel we are expected to. There is a tremendous emphasis placed on the gifts that are associated with the holidays, but, really, the gifts should be the least important element of our Christmas celebrations.

Please do not sacrifice your mental health for the sake of other people’s Christmas presents. It simply isn’t worth it, nor is it necessary, and we need to embrace the idea of spending appropriate amounts of money on gifts, not an extraordinary amount if you aren’t able to. Christmas is a time to recognize and acknowledge the things that mean the most in life, not the items wrapped up under the tree.

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