Christmas should be a time of good cheer, warm family gatherings, a sense of new life, giving, love and peace. For us living with alcohol abuse, it can be the complete opposite.
Family don't come or if they do there's a lot of bad feelings and maybe arguments, plans for lovely Christmas dinners can be ruined, nasty stuff can happen, violence even.
So what can WE do, those of us who choose to live with an active drinker? Well, here are some thoughts that I hope may help you enjoy what you can this Christmas.
- Don't expect too much - unfulfilled expectations = resentment. So just plan for simple things and don't expect everything to go smoothly. Just take it as it comes. Anything better than you expected is a BONUS!
- Keep it simple - the less arrangements made the fewer apologies you'll have to make if your loved one drinks themself out of it all.
- Plan things that YOU can control - don't rely on your loved one being up and involved. They may be, and that would be a blessing. But organise things to suit yourself.
- Do simple things yourself that you will enjoy or consider important: go to church alone, visit nearby family alone, have a dinner even if you eat it by yourself, go to the movies, whatever.
- Don't fret for what is not - be thankful for what you have. There ARE those worse off than you, I am sure.
- Live in the moment - don't moan over losses nor worry about what else can go wrong - just live minute by minute and enjoy what you can.
- Focus on the true meaning of Christmas - not the commercial hype of present giving. If you're not sure what the true meaning is - find out!
- Remember your loved one is sick - being controlled by the drug alcohol, and is not being nasty just to spoil your Christmas - try to understand how sick he or she is.
No comments:
Post a Comment