0 Avoid Loneliness And Enjoy The Holidays

The holidays can be a lonely time, especially after divorce. Holiday traditions spent as a couple like decorating the Christmas tree together; can bring a sense of loneliness when you find yourself doing this alone your first post-divorce Christmas. I also found some friends felt awkward extending an invitation to their annual Holiday party; it may be because they invited my Ex; but mostly I found that the parties I use to attend were all couples and now single; the invitations just stopped for whatever reason.

What I discovered is that I needed to keep myself busy with holiday activities. I started hosting Christmas Cookies decorating parties for my grade school age daughter and a few of her friends. If the playmate my daughter was having over had a sibling; I would extend an invitation to that child as well. This gave parents some much needed time for their Christmas shopping and gift wrapping; they truly appreciated my gift of generosity... plus they took home a plate of decorated cookies.

As my daughter has gotten older, we now do Cookie Exchanges with my girlfriends and one or two of hers. We invite 8 or so girlfriends over for a Sunday or Saturday afternoon; we ask each bring 3 dozen cookies. I serve light appetizers and coffee/tea. We enjoy the time together, listening to Christmas music and discussing the treats that everyone brought. Then everyone selects a few cookies from each of the platter of cookies brought. The idea is to bring 3 dozen of the same cookie and leave with 3 dozen of a variety.

The other activity I enjoy is to bake lots of goodies and give them away. An afternoon of baking with my daughter or perhaps with a girlfriend. But, it's nice to bake up lots of treats and then give them to friends or I often times taken them into the office; not just for my department, but also as a Happy Holidays to other departments we work closely with.

I have also had times when I volunteered my time in my community. There is the annual Parents Night Out that my church hosts. This allows families to drop off their children for 3 hours on a Friday evening to go out and enjoy dinner, Christmas shop or whatever they enjoy doing. When my daughter was of age to participate, I often times stayed and volunteer to work with the children. There are other times where my daughter and I volunteer up our time for an Annual Christmas show that is played locally.

What I have found is staying active and getting out of myself by serving others is a wonderful way to celebrate the season. I feel blessed that I have ability to do this for others. When I'm in a place of gratitude; I'm not lonely.

Labels: dating advice for shy guys  google pick up lines  funny pick up lines  online dating france  black dating online  latino online dating  nlp john grinder  steve p pua  neil strauss nlp