How to Keep Christmas Cheer All Year Its one of those platitudes we hear in December: Keep Christmas in your heart all year. But that can be hard to do when the caroling stops, the cookies are just crumbs, the leftovers are stale and the decorations are boxed up. Even the most cheerful person can find it hard to sustain holiday happiness after the big event has come and gone. What do you think is the favorite holiday in the U.S.A.? Click to find out and take our poll to vote for your favorite--from New Years to Christmas. How is it that some people are able to maintain positive emotions better than others--no matter what the season? A large part of happiness is anticipation, says Christian Waugh, a psychology professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, New Years Eve and other holidays offer punctuated moments of joy we look forward to for weeks. While the celebration itself may be short-lived, the anticipation of the fun and excitement to come extends the feelings of positivity. After the spending spree, holiday parties and fun times with family and friends are over, it can be easy to slide into a funk. Waugh suggests these three tips to keep up the excitement and joy of the holidays all year long: 1. Plan ahead Deliberately plan a combination of big events and small celebrations throughout the year. Everyone gets excited for big vacations, but dont forget the joy of a simple Friday night with friends or watching a baseball game on TV. Also take time to plan for personal milestones and accomplishments. 2. Get excited Let yourself look forward to the fun to come and feel good about a positive experience just around the corner. The stress that comes from planning an event is to be expected but should not overshadow the joy of anticipation. Research shows that resilient people are marked by the ability to recognize that stress and excitement can, and likely will, occur at the same time, Waugh says. 3. Savor the moment Switch out of planning mode long enough to appreciate the experience you have been anticipating. Immerse yourself in the moment. I cant stress enough the importance of actually enjoying the experience as it happens. After spending so much time and energy preparing for something, it can be too easy to the let the moment pass and later feel let down that you were too exhausted or distracted to enjoy it, Waugh says. Take a deep breath and switch your focus away from the work that led up to the celebration and forget about what comes next. Have fun. Then start looking forward to playing with that new toy or using your gift card on something exciting.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:54:51 +0000
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