It is December. A month filled with festive days. Christmas mood as a preset setting is starting up as early as the first day of the month. And in the last day we send the year away with hope that the new one will provide us with even better health and opportunities. But can we keep the holiday mood in the routine everyday life?

It would be easy if each day something good happens to us that provides us opportunities to celebrate, to be cheerful and to have fun. If there was an external stimulus, successful or a happy event to unlock the holiday spirit in the ordinary day. But it's just as easy to shape up our own special day, even if we have no occasion. Let us think, however, what we are expecting from the holidays, so that we can transfer it to non-holidays. There are two controversial attitudes shared by my friends, with the predominance of this: "It's a festive moment. I love this period of the year. We decorated the whole house - garlands, wreaths, light on the windows. I took the presents and started packing them. My husband has bought a variety of delicious stuff. We started holiday meetings with relatives and friends. The kids have already put on their cuddly Santa Claus boots and I enjoy seeing them wearing those.

On Christmas Eve, Sweetheart is rushing into the kitchen - this is our family tradition - he prepares all meals, and everyone listens to Christmas songs.

We will definitely spend a few days at the villa - snow, snowmen, living trees in the yard, fireplace, red wine, close people, warmth ... Children constantly adding to their letters to Santa Claus, and I plan new purchases. And constantly humming "Santa Claus is Coming to Town ...". This is the cosiest, the best and warmest family time of the year for me. "

But there is this other mindset - "Well, I'm not celebrating. I hate shopping, I hate the malls, the shops, and thinking of everybody’s gifts - that makes me very busy. Holidays are just the next days in the calendar marked in red to remind you that it should be "festive". Most people associate them with rest ... What rest is this – duties and tasks from dusk till dawn. "

But all of these people expect Christmas holidays mainly because of their heartfelt and positive attitude, greetings with a smile, meetings with friends and relatives. Every weekday can be turned into a holiday if we bring joy to our soul. If we are not happy on the inside, the coming holidays would hardly change that. Then let us spoil our inner self and make a Christmas calendar, but not with treats, but with ... kindness! We present you only six ideas to fill six December calendar days. You can fill in the rest with actions that create festive emotions for you and a positive mood. Here are our suggestions:

1. Send out good vibes - take a few seconds to send good vibes while sitting on a bench in the park, for example. You can meditate or just think about what the world would look like without problems. In most cases, prayer is perceived only a religious act, it is mainly related to religion, however, prayer is not only a spiritual practice but also a scientific phenomenon, as more and more doctors and psychologists observe its beneficial therapeutic effect.

2. Call a friend you have not talked to for a long time. Perhaps this is a classmate or a fellow student you want to meet more often. Whoever they are, call him/her and tell them that although you have not spoken for some time, they are in your thoughts.

3. Make a chain of good surprises. Imagine waiting for your morning coffee. Take your own coffee, but pay the next man's coffee as well. Ask him to pass on with the person next to him. It's nice to see so many smiling people at once, isn’t it?

4. Smile at others. As we know, smiles are contagious and can have a positive effect on your mood and the people around you.

5. Parents of children and adolescents with disabilities and serious illnesses often cannot afford to fulfil the wishes of their children – a laptop, a book, therapy, a leading-dog. Go to a bazaar, where you can buy hand-made items - clothes, treats or a garment made by the mothers of disabled children. Or you can donate money that will be allocated to a mother's professional training course, or you can donate materials to support those mothers in their hand-made crafting.

6. Use your talent to make another person happy. Can you knit well? Knit a warm sweater for a homeless person, your talent/gift will warm not only his body. You know how to create a website - help a friend who is starting a business or has a cause and wants to promote them pro bono. Do you have magic hands? Wonderful, give a massage to someone’s aching back.

Once you fill the December calendar with good deeds, transfer them to the next month. Stick to that, and it's almost certain that January will be just as festive for you will be certain that you are going to do goodness, rejoice someone, see their smile - ever-positive holiday emotions.

If one thinks, "Okay, but goodness is a spontaneous act, a schedule of good deeds does not seem right to me," he'll be perfectly right. The calendar should not be a plan of duties, as something that must be done. It will only be there to remind us that we do not have to climb the highest mountain to be loved, to live in harmony with ourselves, to feel satisfied. We just have to be good with no reason, selfless and open.

 

Author: Veneta Paeva