Day 4: What is Christmas really about for you? 12 thoughts of Christmas

It’s easy to get lost in the yearly Christmas hype and buy hundreds of gifts and enough food to feast on for a month, end up in massive amounts of credit card debt and a serious case of the meat sweats… but what is Christmas really about?

It’s different for everyone, but if we look past the money we spend and the amount of food we eat, we can usually see what Christmas is actually about for us.

For some, it’s all about connecting with their family, no matter how often we see them during the year. For others, it's about relaxing and celebrating the end of a year of hard work. Perhaps for you, it’s a time of generosity, to give back to those that are less fortunate for us, either financially or with time or kindness.

I’ve often looked upon Christmas time with a sense of dread: there are so many obligations, so much hard-earned money to spend, so many gifts to think of, not to mention all of the awkward family get-togethers. And, yes, we do have some obligation to uphold traditions, we do need to spend money, and think of others, but we also do that all throughout the year too. It wasn’t until I asked myself what Christmas is really about for me, that I had an opportunity to let go of the other stuff that made it all less enjoyable.

For me, Christmas time is all about connecting with, and appreciating my loved ones, and, even though it’s nice to give and receive gifts, and eat delicious food, what really matters to me is that I’m doing it with the people I care about. When I focussed on this (instead of my perceived obligations) it meant 1- I had a much more enjoyable experience, and 2- I didn’t just do things for the sake of doing them. I made decisions based on how things helped me to connect with and appreciate my family and friends, rather than just buying token gifts ‘because I had to’

So my question for you today is, under all the hype, what is Christmas really about for you? I'd love to know!