As we age, the holiday season can be a sad time, especially for seniors separated from family or coping with the loss of a spouse. One way of beating a Blue Christmas is keeping busy. This blog talks about those feelings and ways seniors can cope during the holidays.
A friend commented on how hard the holidays are for singles. It can be hard on someone who is married as well. When your spouse doesn’t share your enthusiasm for the holidays, it can seem like you are living with the Grinch. Or your spouse may have dementia or mobility problems preventing you from participating in many activities. (1)
One woman’s remedy for holiday blues is focusing her attention on ‘the reason for the season.’ Attending a service with choirs and congregations singing holiday music lifts the spirit.
Some people like to volunteer during the holidays. Our friends spend Christmas morning at a food pantry. Another invites singles to share Christmas dinner. Signupgenius.com has 30 ways you can beat the holiday blues by volunteering.
I have two neighbors who bake holiday treats and distribute them to their neighbors. Baking for a local organization can uplift your spirits. A Naples woman distributes cookies to local firefighters. (2) Everyone loves Christmas cookies.
The wintry skies don't help, especially for those susceptible to seasonal affective disorder (SAD). In the past, I noticed that as the gloomy winter days progressed, I lost my enthusiasm for everything. A SAD light improved my mood. Once I retired and spent more time outdoors I no longer needed the light. Now I live in the Sunshine State, no extra lights are needed. But this week has been exceptionally gloomy for Florida.
I still want to cocoon on the few gloomy days we have. We have a window that whistles and howls when it’s windy, sounding more like an Arctic blast than a tropical breeze. The sound doesn’t help my mood. I feel like I’m in Chicago on a cold winter’s day even though it's 72 degrees outside (22.222 for my Canadian friends).
Drugs can help. No, not that kind – Vitamin D. Some seniors are deficient in vitamin D. I am. Believe it or not, in addition to bone and muscle loss, Vitamin D deficiency can also lead to depression.
Remembering good times in the past can remind us that they are gone forever. Sweet memories of yesterday are inherently tinged with such bittersweet sentiments. We’re happy that we’ve enjoyed them but sad that we couldn’t keep them or bring them back. As Jim Croce said, “If I Could Put Time in a Bottle.” When I get those sad feelings, I focus on remembering the fun and love. I remind myself that I’m so blessed to have those wonderful memories.
We can create new memories. Hubby and I have created new traditions. Instead of holidays with the family we spend Christmas day with our snowbird friends in the RV park. During the holiday season we have potlucks with friends and watch shows such as A Christmas Story and The Great Christmas Light Fight. It’s more fun sharing a show with friends, you can laugh together and share stories while watching.
This year, a new tradition emerged when I discovered empty Christmas card boxes on December 21. It was too late to buy cards, write them, and send them. Opting for e-cards over traditional ones turned out surprisingly delightful, fostering instant interactions with friends through email. That interaction doesn’t happen with snail mail. So at times, after the initial pang of regret over losing a cherished tradition, you realize that the new tradition is an improvement.
The image on my Christmas e-card Card
Doing the ecard started another new tradition. Instead of the fun of searching the National Wildlife catalog for the perfect card, I created my card image with Bing’s artificial intelligence. Now I have a one-of-a-kind Christmas card.
So rather than getting lost in sadness over loss and loneliness over the holidays, I push myself to enjoy new friends and new things. It works. It changes my Blue Christmas into a busy Christmas.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Note: All the images in this week's blog were created with Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Bing's Image Creator. It saves me having to pay for images and sometimes I can get images that fit the topic better. They usually aren't exactly what I had in mind but it's better than searching through hundreds of pics and paying for them. The image creator has improved over that past few months. It used to create images with extra hands, feet or goofy eyes. Lately none of my images have had extra body parts.
References
Krystine I. Batcho Ph.D., Why Happy Occasions Can Make Us Sad, psychologytoday.com, December 5, 2022
Harriet Howard Heithaus, Volunteers bake cookies as sweet thanks for SWFL heroes, Naples Daily News, November 23, 2016
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