Create Your Own Traditions

Create Your Own Traditions

'Tis the season and traditions abound. Traditions are wonderful because they keep us connected to that which is most important to us. Traditions are comforting because they add a constant to our lives and a certainty that isn't always there. With all that is wonderful about traditions, they can also cause stress and discomfort. You don't have to carry on a tradition, and you can always start new ones.

When it comes to traditions, I believe there are four basics rules to follow. Number one, embrace it. If you love a tradition, then by all means embrace it. My husband and I spend every Christmas with the Cook family. We have a low key low stress holiday that has become a tradition.

Rule number two is tweak it. There may be a tradition that you love, but it needs a makeover. As a child, we always had ham for Christmas, and my husband loves ham for the holiday, but I don't want to bake the ham. I buy it already prepared and just heat it up. My husband gets the tradition and I don't have the hassle.

Rule three, if you don't love it, leave it. If there is a tradition that you don't love, don't do it. You don't have to follow tradition if you don't want to. If there is something that simply doesn't make your holiday, leave it and follow rule four.

Rule number four is create your own traditions. As you establish your life, you will want to create your own traditions. Each year I pull a tag off the Christmas tree at my local grocery store and buy a present for the underprivileged child named there. I have been doing it for years, and it is my special tradition.

Traditions are wonderful, and can make the holiday special. As you grow into your own, you need to decide what traditions work for you, and what new ones you want to create.

Traditions are wonderful and they can also be a pain. If you don't love a tradition then don't do it. Why would you? Follow only the traditions that make your holiday bright and have meaning for you. Don't waste your time on traditions that have long since lost their meaning.

Don't be afraid to create your own traditions. Traditions that you create will have more meaning and add more joy to your holiday season.



Quotes

"Tradition is a guide and not a jailer." W. Somerset Maugham