The holidays are great and we look forward to them but they are not a happy time for everyone. There is surprisingly an awful lot of depression and even suicide during the holiday season. Many people feel somewhat overwhelmed and/or somewhat down. Similarly a lot of people are annoyed by all the holiday goings on and this can easily be explained by saying that "We all have a little Grinch in us." Here are three ways to get rid of that Grinch and get into the holiday spirit.
1) Volunteer to help those less fortunate than ourselves. For example my friend Joe volunteers at a local food bank and soup kitchen. The holidays are the busiest time and he tells me they serve an incredible amount of turkey dinners on Thanksgiving! Getting out and helping people will help get you into the spirit, and volunteers are always needed.
2) Do any shopping and preparation early this year. There is nothing like a mast minute time crunch to stress us out! My wife actually buys most presents for Christmas right after Christmas for the following year. She saves lots of time as the stores are less crowded and lots of money as many items are discount! I can't do that myself, but I am 95% done with Christmas shopping by Dec 1st for example.
3) Even if you don't need to or don't want to, get out and be around people. Just being around others will help your mood and the holiday spirit is infectious, sometimes annoyingly so!