It’s the most wonderful time of year…or is it?
Statistics tell us that, ironically, during the most wonderful time of the year is when people in general experience the most depression and anxiety. While I don’t like to admit it, I am one of those people who struggle with the holiday blues.
Some of us experience depression during the holidays because of the stress of buying the right present for everyone on our list. Others develop the holiday blues because they have lost loved ones around this time of year. Even the fact that the sun sets earlier, so there is less light in our lives during the holidays, can cause us to be a little more down than usual.
My depression stems from unmet expectations, both expected of me and expected by me.
I have this mentality that the holidays are supposed to be perfect, and I feel like other people expect that of me. I have to get just the right gift…say just the right things…be just the right person.
Sure, I may act the part, but I’m not being true to myself. Forget all the imperfections that I display during the rest of the year. During the holidays, those imperfections don’t exist on the surface, as I’m expected to stuff my imperfections and avoid them. While I’m honest any other month, during the most wonderful time of the year, no one wants to hear anything other than good news.
I’ve struggled with the holiday blues for years, and if I really thought about it, I believe it’s because everyone is expected to be happy.
I still struggle with it. However, God has shown me that He has given me everything I need to fight against this depression. It starts by focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.
Fighting the #holidayblues begins with focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. @elisabethw_free Share on XThe prophet Isaiah reveals the nature of Jesus centuries before He was born:
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV)
In order to cure the holiday blues, I need to allow Christ to reveal Himself to me as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. With such a description about our Lord, the only thing we can expect of Christmas is that God is going to move powerfully in our midst!
This holiday season, whether you struggle with the holiday blues or a fear of unmet expectations, the same God who has carried you through the previous months of the year is ready to meet you and give you joy that only He can provide.
- That means we shouldn’t have expectations of the broken people in our lives. Instead, we should watch God work and trust Him.
- We should be honest about our imperfections instead of hiding them so that God can be glorified through His grace and mercy in our broken lives.
- We should be prepared to be a light to our unsaved family members and to not be surprised when they break the mold of what we expect of them.
And when things don’t go the way we expect…
we should thank God for being bigger than we can ever imagine.
Elisabeth is a lover of words, language, and grammar. As an overcomer of Generalized Anxiety Disorder through God’s grace, she seeks to speak (and write!) life into those who have no hope by showing them the hope of Christ. She is a native Long Islander and has been married to her husband Lenny for two years.
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Sisters, we are called to walk the way of hope instead of the way of defeat. We must claim more than our title of “Daughter of the King.” We must step up and also claim our position.
And we must claim these together. As a sisterhood; a sisterhood of brave women who stand strong in the promises of who God is and who we are.
- We all are Made for Brave.
- We are made to live for something authentic and brave.
- In living brave, we silence the past, transform the future, and take a front row seat to God’s wild and uncontainable love!
So, I’m inviting you to join this Made for Brave Sisterhood, each Monday as we share our stories and allow God to bring hope and healing. Let’s commit to being authentic and brave, one step at a time, side by side, holding each other up and nudging each other toward our true selves. And let’s claim the victory waiting on the other side of brave; for ourselves and our sisterhood.
Let’s celebrate our tears and our struggles as we peel away the layers of fear to reveal the beauty of brave.
Let’s risk everything that brave requires for everything that brave has to offer…
Becoming who we were created to be!
In living brave, we silence the past, transform the future, and take a front row seat to God’s wild and uncontainable love! #MadeforBrave #Hope Share on XDo you have a Made for Brave story to share? Get the writing guidelines and submit your stories HERE!
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