will be starting to rise. Presents yet to be bought, family
get-together arrangements still to be finalised and meal
plans only at the drawing board stage. The logistical
nightmare that overshadows many people's Yuletide can take
away much of the pleasure of this supposedly peaceful and
happy time.
Fractured families often feel the burden of forced Christmas
jollity most keenly, but it's far from plain sailing for
unified ones.
I often hear people - women, mostly - talking about their
dread of the Festive Season and how they long for everything
to be "back to normal" once it's all over for another year.
Interestingly, I hear almost as often those same people say,
afterwards, that, actually, Christmas was a lot better than
they expected. In fact, it was pretty much okay.
I use the word "interestingly", because when people talk
like this, it makes me wonder at the state of their
marriages. Despite the organisational stresses and strains,
Christmas should be a time to really relish being with your
nearest and dearest. If your overriding reaction is that it
was "okay", perhaps your relationship with your partner
isn't everything you imagined it was.
Put it this way: if the most magical family holiday period
of the year is simply mediocre, then maybe your marriage is
in serious trouble.
Without wishing to pre-empt the situation, I suggest that if
Christmas proves a damp squib this year, it might be that in
the New Year you need to take a long, hard look at your
marriage.
You may decide to work at improving the relationship - you
know the drill; counselling etc - or you may decide that
"okay" isn't good enough. Whatever conclusion you reach, the
beginning of a new year is a good time to plan a fresh
start.
You may think that because of the recession there's little
choice but to put up with a poor relationship - you and your
spouse simply can't afford to split up.
The fact is that credit crunch or no credit crunch,
marriages will continue to break down and couples will
continue to build new lives for themselves. Money and
property are important, of course, but what is more
important is whether or not you're happy. If your marriage
doesn't fizz even amidst the Christmas lights, it is time to
take stock of what really matters.
