RHP

RHP User

F48

The joy of Christmas

December 15 2012

So I know that Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, peace, giving and for spending time with family and friends. I, however, hate this time of year. I find there is an element of people who are rude, selfish, aggressive, impatient and inconsiderate to others. I can’t stand the sudden craziness at the shopping centres, the aggressive and dangerous drivers on the roads and the sense of entitlement that some seem to acquire that make them think they and their priorities are more important than other peoples. This time of year makes me want to crawl under a rock and not reappear until the new year. Am I the only one who feels this way or do others experience something similar? Should I just get over it, stop being a Christmas grinch and get in the Chistmas spirit?

Comments

  • xFunlovingx

    xFunlovingx

    12 years ago

    Why are you putting in so much energy to the negatives of Christmas? Ignore the negatives and look at the positives...The kids that love Santa and get excited at seeing him in shopping malls....The fact that families might only get to come together once a year because of distance or whatever and they get to share the day with their loved ones...Kids faces as they open up their presents on Christmas Day and the laughter and joy that is all through them...The fact that we are alive and well in a great Country that has restrictions on gun laws and that we won't have to bury a child just before Christmas. Be grateful! xFunlovingx

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Best to get over it and get on with it. I'm with funloving on this one for sure. Be thankful that you can go to shopping centres, drive a car or celebrate Christmas at all. Maybe under a rock is a better option for you if you feel that it's all too overwhelming. Cheer up ... maybe spending some time doing something for those less fortunate than you may help you get into the spirit more.

  • uneventful

    uneventful

    12 years ago

    Bellator35 ... on this matter .. its not a matter of focusing on the negatives ,.,. it is sadly .. a fact of life .. that Christmas has been too commercialized , Yes the positives are very nice .. the kids joy with Santa .. (heaven forbid we teach our kids not to talk to strangers, then we force our kids to sit on this strangers lap and ask for unrealistic presents ) .I work on the principle .. that if I love someone be they family or friends .. I don't need to wait till the 25/12 to buy and give them a present .. hence if I see something I like during the year that suits someone particularly .. I buy it and give it .. with a tag that says .. open now or keep till 25/12 ,.. either way .. you have my love ..

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    go skinny dipping wearing a Santa hat and bells hanging from your nipples ...

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    I love Christmas ,putting up the tree ,cooking a turkey ,having great food/drinks with my family ,enjoying over eating ,lazing round the house and enjoying giving to others.I always do my Christmas shopping early.The one thing i really enjoy is seeing kids playing with their new toys ,all excited about their gifts .Reminds me of when i was a kid.Also enjoy the build up to New Years , seeing the Fireworks is great.I have already scoped out my fireworks spot for this year.Bring on Christmas and the New year i say and a very Merry Christmas to all.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Marinated teriyaki reindeer steaks help chase away the holiday blues. Thrown on Dasher and Dancer, we already ate Comet and Cupid....I'm saving Vixen for New Year's Eve.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    But be damn glad your here to experience it either way cause there are plenty that aren't I appreciate your angst however suck it up its only for approximate 2 weeks a year and it could be worse, you could be living in a war zone or Newton Connecticut

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    I love xmas.......i usually have a house that looks like Santsa grotto.......the gingerbread house, the tree, the lot....i dont see the things in people you mention.....i have only seen the goodwill the relaxed attitude towardss eachother as the year starts to draw to close.....the laughter the cheermy son is overseas and my family interstate.......so the last few years I have gone away for xmas..........it is different....but i still love the atmosphere at xmas timeSPREAD THE GOODWILL AND THE CHEER....make a difference to mankind hehehehehe....in whatever way it makes you feel good

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Thank you for your comments so far.   Don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful for what I have and I realise there are many people less fortunate than me. What annoyed me is all those people who were rude to me today, for example, the guy in the car behind me who blasted me with his horn when I refused to cut someone off in the traffic jam trying to get out of the shopping centre. Or the woman behind me in the supermarket checkout who moved her trolley so far down into the register while I put my bags in the trolley that I couldn’t even get to the eftpos machine without politely having to excuse myself, only to have her glare daggers at me like I was inconveniencing her, resulting in me having to explain to her that I couldn’t pay and get out of her way unless she backed up. Surely those people should take your advice as well. We are all incredibly busy at this time of year but if we all went about like I do, politely, respectful of others and generally with a smile on my face, I’m sure I would enjoy it a little more.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    ...Santa Clause, elves and flying reindeerAs for the shephards tending to their flocks of sheep in the mountains of Israel ...being that it's winter time, it would have been too bloody cold for the sheep and no pasture due to the snow. Maybe they were huddled around jesus, away in the manger ...along with the easter bunny!!

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    sales in London ,very ,very,scary.Hoardes of Europeans descending en masse down Oxford Street.My daughter who was with me was punched and kicked on a bus by impatient shoppers.Was soooo not jolly. I think people become a little crazed with some sort of shopaholic madness.I wonder if they have a hangover the next day

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Let me reiterate, bah humbug!

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Spare a thought for the people who have just lost their children. Spare a thought for the men and women doing it tough on the street or in shelters. Think for a minute about the people who through no fault of their own are going to spend christmas alone. Hard to do if you've never been there but if you had you would be savouring every moment of Xmas. - Posted from rhpmobile

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    ...and for putting so much effort into cheering us up.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    'the reason for the season'. Not shopping, fighting traffic, going from store to store looking for that 'right' gift. It is no wonder suicide rates are up around Christmas. Personally, I don't even want to know the day is here. I have been reminded of so much pain and suffering during and around Christmas that i just can't enjoy it anymore. The only joy I get out of it is watching old videos of my kids opening their presents when they were little, and NOT watching it on Christmas day. I would love to spend Christmas with a special someone, but it isn't going to happen. Hopefully I might be able to talk to my kids sometime around Christmas. Just another overblown, commercialized holiday. Family and friends just getting together for more simple times is almost non existent anymore. It is all a big production that induces heart attacks and premature aging.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Buy your stuff earlier in the year and avoid the chaos... :p

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Quoting 'hardtruckin2011'Buy your stuff earlier in the year and avoid the chaos... :p Abrasive and practical! ...

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Quoting 'Deepdarkwoods77' Spare a thought for the people who have just lost their children. Spare a thought for the men and women doing it tough on the street or in shelters. Think for a minute about the people who through no fault of their own are going to spend christmas alone. Hard to do if you've never been there but if you had you would be savouring every moment of Xmas. - Posted from rhpmobile ... the recent tragedy in america is a poor and unfair card to pull on anyone, maybe 'Bellator35' has spared a thought, next time aim that one at the crazed gunman who shot those poor kids instead...

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    If it wasn't for my daughter Christmas wouldn't mean a thing, but because I get to see her gorgeous face lit up all day it makes all the other crap worth it.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    I don't think there is any right or wrong answer. Some of the things you've mentioned are valid and a lot of people share the same view. Christmas means different things for each of us. For adults its about taking a break from the year and getting the chance to change routine...so that may be parties, quiet time, going away or 1001 other things. For kids its about holidays, doing things with friends, and believing in the entire Christmas/santa experience.   At the same time what doesn't change is there will always be people working right up to or even on christmas day and through to the new year. Also there are a lot of people struggling, much less fortunate and don't feel happy or apart of the community. That is why church and the symbol of christmas is important for community spirit and in trying to do things for the needy.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    For me Christmas is about putting in the effort of making a great meal that you wouldn't have had the time or energy to make through out the rest of the year and can share it with whoever walks in the door. And the knowledge that you can just chill out and do nothing for the rest of the day.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    I buy a single white rose every year at Christmas time. I sit down at the local shopping centre, watching the crowds of people scurry around, buying their presents for loved ones. I choose one person. They become the owner of that single white rose. They never understand it, but I do. While I have my kids, I don't essentially get to buy something for someone. AND I might add, has a flow on effect that they will also give it on, essentially being the magic of Christmas. The white rose is just the vehicle it travels on.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    You keep claiming to be abrasive but you've got a heart in you big enough to choke a crocodile.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    CRIKEY!!!! Though I don't know so much. I'm just me.

  • WHY_NOT_LOOK

    WHY_NOT_LOOK

    12 years ago

    Every year i try my hardest to enjoy Xmas, but being in retail by Xmas day i just want to sleep... now the kids are older they didn't even want the tree up this year... then getting families together... that's fun as we all live a distance away.... this year i don't have my parents with us any more so that's not something im looking forward to... I always put on a party with margarita's the blow up pool lots of friends and drink the kids and adults always had a great time.... now on my own its not so appealing .... now I've said that out loud i know what im doing for Xmas bringing back the party ... I think its been gone long enough... thanks for posting this or i might not have got what i was missing

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    There will always be negative aspects to any situation if thats what you are looking for. Seek the beauty in christmas. I love watching the build up and excitement in mine and others kids. I like that people tend to be more friendly and talkative. I kove seeing people display genuine kindness and revel in the joy of giving without expecting anything in return.....like my mum. Having said all that, there is one element to christmas that saddens me deeply. The over indulgence of food that leads to so many more innocent animals - turkeys, pigs- experiencing the fear and suffering of slaughter. And i dread going to my non-vegan family lunch where i know i have to witness them digging a knife into what was a living, breathing turkey who valued its life just as much as you and i. And then they will bang on about how tender and delicious it is while my heart weeps. Please consider the lives of our animal friends at christmas. Take only what you need, or a little less cos we always think we need more than we really do. And please feel free to message me if you have any interest in cooking cruelty-free christmas dinners...im always happy to share. So my wish at christmas is that people can discover their own true inner beauty and recognise this in all others so they wish to harm them no more. Love.

  • RHP

    RHP User

    12 years ago

    Sorry I'm a Pagan and don't believe in Xmas, I only like to celebrate the change of seasons Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring so I have 4 nice parties a year......Xmas is a time for a lot of family's to fight and this is not good.....We rather spend Xmas day on the beach and enjoy the day as it comes...