The One Thing I’m Doing This Holiday Break for My Happiness
By: Wang Yip
Tags: Forgiveness, Holidays, Happiness, Connection, Friendship

The One Thing I’m Doing This Holiday Break for My Happiness

Photo by Adam Solomon on Unsplash

COVID has really thrown a wrench into things. This past October, my partner and I were planning on traveling out of country. Typically over the holiday season, I like to visit my family. My friends and I like to gather over the holidays for dinner and board games.

Now, none of those things can happen.

Yes, I understand it’s for the greater good and health of everyone, not just me. But I can’t help but feel a little lonely and out of touch when my only form of engaging with others is people delivering packages from Amazon and other online shopping stores to the home.

So, here’s my plan for the holidays. Steal it if you’d like because I think it will help make you a little happier (and introduce a bit of happiness to those around you).

Reconnect with friends and family over the holidays

And what specifically will I do?

Send out holiday cards

The other day, I went to Costco and bought one of those one million pack of holiday greeting cards. It’s not actually one million, but it feels that way with Costco selling everything in bulk. And then I went and bought a pack of stamps from the post office.

I will plop myself down at my table, and then write cards for friends. Friends that I talk to all the time. Friends that I haven’t talked to, maybe for months, even years.

I used to be that kind of person that doesn’t send out cards or give out gifts unless people gave them to me first. But with cards, and with friendships, people might be thinking the same thing on their end. So, I’m going to be a little courageous and take the first step. I’ll go first. And I won’t worry about whether they send something back or not (though it would be nice).

Video calls with close friends

Already, I have started contacting my close friends to see if we can catch up through video calls. It’s one thing to keep in touch through social media or Whatsapp or text messages, but I think it is a different (and more rewarding) experience to see each other’s faces and body language.

That’s one of the things I miss the most is seeing my friend’s happy and smiling faces as we reminisce about what life was like before COVID (or in the past).

Send gifts to family

My family is not into gift giving. When I was younger, Christmases would go by and we were in the spirit of saving money and not exchanging gifts that ended up being re-gifted in the future. I still like that approach, but sometimes you have to take the first step. Maybe people are waiting for you to give them a gift before they get you one. Or they want to see what you get them before deciding on what to get you. I have no idea. All I know is that giving a gift to your family makes you feel good. It makes you feel connected. And that’s what we need this COVID Christmas.

Apologize to those I have wronged

I have gone through life trying not to make mistakes. But mistakes happen. One friend I was close with ended up ignoring me one day until I realized what had happened. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. The best I can do is own up to my mistakes, apologize, and hope that I get another shot, but if I don’t, that’s something I will have to accept.

Final thoughts

This holiday break, I will commit to the above actions. And as I wrote out what I want to do over the break, I learned the following:

Take the first step — sometimes people are waiting for you to make the gesture

The holidays do not have to be expensive, sometimes even a note or a card can go a long way

Just because you haven’t talked to someone in a long time doesn’t mean you can’t ever talk to them.

Apologizing to someone doesn’t cost a thing, and sometimes it is the impetus to move the relationship forward

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