A gloomy time of year

The Holidays are the one time of year that is joyous and cheerful, when families are meant to spend time together. It's a season of giving and receiving, of love and happiness. However, this time of year can have the opposite effect on people. While all that love, joy and togetherness can be a wonderful thing, it can also swell all those broken hearts in the world. Many people experience a heartbreaking loss in their lives and our day to day menial tasks can help to mask the difficult times. However, when Christmas rolls around and everyone is meant to be with their family and loved ones having a merry time, the loss grows more significant and it is not as easy to run away from. It stares you straight in the eye and it hurts. It hurts more than ever, because you know there is a hole where a person, a pet, a happy family should be, or whatever that loss is.

I know this is a depressing blog for this time of year but it has been on my mind quite a bit. I know a lot of people who have either experienced a devastating loss in the past or in particular this year. Personally it's been a tough year and I've seen it all around. Of course the Holidays remind us of the difficulty we have faced and it feels so unfair...especially when you look around and see all the joy and merriment of the season all over. We must continue to remind ourselves that the Holidays are a mark of the end to the calendar year, and as of January the 1st we are all allowed a fresh start. While it is quite possible that the difficulties may continue, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. We all have dark times that we may feel we will never come out of, but we also have positive highs that we must continue to look forward to in our future, for it will make the difficult times seem non-existent. Vice versa, the difficult times will make the good times so much sweeter.

So, while this Christmas may be difficult, who says the next won't be the best one ever? My heart goes out to all of those individuals and families that are celebrating Christmas under difficult circumstances. Stay positive and keep your eye on that light at the end of the tunnel, because it will just keep getting brighter.



Merry, Happy, Merry!