You are on a high during Christmas, I am anyway. My existence is fueled by caffeine, cuss words, the chaotic to-do lists, cookies, and that down home country cooking! Very little sleep, glitter everywhere and presents piled high. Anticipation is teeming throughout the house. You start getting bribes and promises that are only made to pave the way to the present pile. It’s exciting. It’s stressful. It’s worth it.
Then the crash comes promptly on 12/26. The day you thought would be a day where you could bask in your Christmas contentment instead becomes the day you have the Christmas comedown and crash. I’m suddenly drained as I’m no longer running off of the Christmas chaos and the need to tend to every stocking stuffer and the mad rush to finish strong! The fatigue hits like a ton of bricks yet still I try to push through. The wave of emotions of either failure or accomplishment come on strong. Suddenly I feel as if I ran a never-ending marathon for a month, made everything as good as it could be. I checked every list, twice, but somehow I didn’t win the love and appreciation I thought I would.
I’m happy that Defcon Four got everything they asked for {even if it didn’t all arrive in time for the grand finale} and that for the most part everyone seems happy with their newly procured presents. I’m left with the mess, to be a chauffeur as everyone spends their newly obtained fortune by shopping, and to try to recover my own financial security from my over extravagant spending.
The day after comes and I’m left without much of an agenda and too much time to over analyze every misstep along the way. I overthink every single reaction and the many ways I could’ve improved on the process to avoid the mishaps, lower my stress, and made my life easier and their Christmas better. I get a little bitter and self-loathing, which isn’t a good look. I try to isolate to avoid any issues that my edgy, irritability may spark. I fail, with gusto, because I pop off with even the slightest additional negative dilemma that is placed in my way.
‘I’m going to work on it’, I repeat in my head, as I try to make my rational thoughts take root. I meditate and focus on other tasks, but my energy feels off. It’s just the post Christmas crash and I’m unsure what the fix is to this problem. I’m not even sure if it’s common or if this is a bipolar thing. I’d like to excuse it either way, but at the end of the day I know im responsible for my every reaction, response, my attitude and my actions. I just lose sight of those facts. I hope you aren’t experiencing a Christmas crash! If you are or if you aren’t stay positive! You’ve got this! ☮️❤️😊~M
M, this to shall pass. On the flip side, it is a nice denouement, the period after Christmas. I love your bold banner about there is no award. About twenty years ago, I had a health scare which was more stress related than heart related. At the time I did not know this. So, as I sat with all these monitors pasted on my chest, arms and legs, waiting for my wife to show up, I can assure you I did not think about work at all. It gave me clarity. Best wishes for a great 2022. Keith
Well shared 😊 wishing you happ 2022. Stay blessed.💕🎅💕
[…] post holiday dysfunction at my home. I wrote about something similar last year and called that post The After Christmas Crash. I must not be alone in this aftermath effect of the hustle and bustle that leaves us feeling a bit […]