Personally, I love the holidays. I love the lights, the smells, the warmth, the color. Everything about the holidays is inviting to me. It hasn’t always been that way though. I do not have much of a family, of course, I have aunts, uncles, and cousins, but my family has never been close to them due to money disputes after my grandparents passed away.Â
When my parents got divorced, it really seemed like the holidays were just pointless. What is the point of snow if my dad can’t be there to help me build a snowman? What is the point of Christmas cookies if my mom can’t help me bake them? When I started getting older, I realized it is less about the material things, and more about the feeling that can come from the holidays. You have to be able to look at the glass as half full, not half empty.Â
   Use this time as a period of healing for your mind. You may not have money to buy presents, but you have the ability to express your gratitude for everything that they do for you. You may not have a family to share the holidays with, gather your friends. Make your own traditions. Heal your mind from the stigmas and negative thoughts.Â
   Scrooge didn’t like Christmas because it brought up bad memories from the past. He inflicted that pain on everyone he associated with, and he became a toxic person to be around. If Scrooge would have used Christmas to heal from the very thing that turned Christmas sour in is head, then he would have been a happier person, had more friends, and would have experienced the true meaning of the holidays.Â
   This year, make a New Year’s Resolution to start a positive and healthy lifestyle. Make a promise to yourself, that no matter how hard things get, you will look at the positive in every situation, and I guarantee your mind and soul will be healed by the holidays.
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