Happy?

If you find that you are happy or enjoying some aspects of the holiday season- it's O.K.  If you 're not feeling the holiday spirit, that's O.K, too. Sometimes we get caught up trying to live up to other people's  expectations  of how we should feel and behave. Sometimes family and friends will worry  or act disapprovingly if their expectation(s) are not met.  Sometimes we have our own expectations for how we should feel and act instead of simply accepting how we feel right now.  Sometimes there is a "survivor guilt"-struggling with "How can I  be enjoying this when my loved one can't?" Or "I need to have a good time because my love one can't-I need to do the holidays for two, now."
Remember the old standard is no longer and a new norm may not have been established yet...you will have many conflicting feelings and many mood swings potentially. Knowing this and accepting it are half the battle.

                                        (photo by Lisa Woods)