Since tearing open nicely wrapped packages that were left under the Christmas tree, many of us made the most of the remaining days of the holiday week by taking time off from work and spending time with family and friends. Many others who could not take time off have News Years Eve and New Years Day as their last hurrah of the holiday season. Yes. This time of year finds many of us grabbing at any opportunity to get revved up to celebrate one or more festivities.
Every year, I usually get revved up from the moment I am sitting at the dinner table with loved ones as we each take a turn to comment on something we’re thankful for before digging into our Thanksgiving meal. This state of feeling revved and festive concludes with me and my family sitting in front of the television with champagne in hand during the final seconds before the ball drops in Times Square to usher in the New Year. When all is said and done, I tend to reflect on the weeks since Thanksgiving to find anything that stood out as unique and special during the holiday season. Were there any special moments you had with loved ones that made this year’s festivities memorable and unique?
Some of you may have begun this festive season at the end of Thanksgiving Day by joining thousands of others in long lines, at numerous stores around the country, to take advantage of the Black Friday specials. With 50-inch ultra HD TV’s being sold at 50 percent off the retail price, it is easy to see why many would bear the brunt of standing in long lines for hours with an overstuffed belly and, perhaps, doing so in freezing weather if they live in the northern region of the U.S. It’s certainly something that many shoppers consider worth the time and effort to upgrade to a larger flat-screen TV or to simply save as much as possible on Christmas presents.
I certainly get caught up in the spirit of buying gifts, but not on Black Friday. I’m not that brave 😉 The quality time spent with those close to me, however, is what makes this time of year meaningful. As cliche as this may sound, most of my memories from past holidays are my interactions with family and friends. And from talking with friends and strangers alike, it is obvious that many others feel the same.
It is without question that there is plenty of activity this time of year with more than one holiday to celebrate. With Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas, followed by the celebrated welcoming of a new year, it is easy to see why the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is the most festive time of the year.
This brings me back to the question about things you may have done this holiday season that made it memorable and unique. During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I spent some of my time reading online feature articles from the NPR and The New York Times on different Thanksgiving topics. No. This was not my memorable and unique moment, per se. And this may not sound like a festive activity to many but it was one I personally enjoyed. As I was perusing titles of several articles, I stumbled upon an interesting article on eight meaningful ways to spend quality time with others on Thanksgiving. It was an article presented as a holiday advertisement from, of all places, the Capital One Website.
The article is a collection of traditions gathered from various employees of the financial institution that I found to be heartwarming and health-promoting. While this article was centered on the Thanksgiving Holiday, all of the traditions it reported can easily lend themselves to the holiday season as a whole. There was one tradition that was a creative example of preserving those memorable moments with those close to you. It involves everyone sitting at the dinner table, writing their name on the table cloth while seated and eventually having every name embroidered with the year of the holiday. Very cool! If you’re interested in knowing more about this and the other seven traditions, click on this link: https://www.capitalone.com/onefocus/thanksgiving-traditions-worth-considering/.
Kudos to Capital One for recommending “festive ways to gather” and spend quality time with family and friends. Perhaps it goes without saying to think about creative ways that make this holiday season memorable and meaningful for you and love ones.
Wishing you a Happy, Health-promoting New Year!
Photo credit: Health-promoting Bandwagon.
Originally published on The Health-promoting Bandwagon.
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